LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

i 

GIFT  OF  ^ 

MRS.   MARY  WOLFSOHN 

IN    MEMORY  OF 


y 


1+1- 


METHODS  OF  TEACHING 


A  HAND-BOOK  OF 

PRINCIPLES,  DIRECTIONS,  AND  WORKING  MODELS 
FOR  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEACHERS 


BY 

JOHN  SWETT 

PRINCIPAL  OF  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  GIRLS'  HIGH  SCHOOL  AND  NORMAL  CLASS 


"  Special  preparation  is  a  prerequisite  for  teaching.  "—HORACE  MANN 


OfTHt 

VNIVER8IT 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  FRANKLIN  SQUARE 

1888 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1880,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 

AU  rights  reserved. 


PREFACE. 


This  book  is  intended — 

(1.)  For  use  in  normal  schools  and  normal  classes,  as  a 
basis  for  instruction  in  methods  of  teaching. 

(2.)  For  the  use  of  those  who  intend  to  become  teach- 
ers without  taking  a  course  of  professional  training. 

(3.)  For  experienced  teachers  who  believe  there  is 
something  to  be  learned  from  the  suggestions  of  others. 

The  characteristic  features  claimed  for  this  manual  are : 

(1.)  Its  strict  limitation  to  the  essentials  of  common- 
school  instruction. 

(2.)  Its  condensed  and  specific  directions. 

(3.)  Its  working  models  for  beginners. 

The  attempt  to  reduce  teaching-methods  to  condensed 
statements  and  bird's-eye  views  is  beset  with  many  dif- 
ficulties readily  appreciated  by  practical  educators.  But 
what  the  young  teacher  most  needs  is  a  definite  direction 
or  method:  he  will  learn  to  make  for  himself  all  neces- 
sary qualifications  and  exceptions  in  schoolroom  practice. 
My  chief  purpose  has  been,  therefore,  to  make,  not  an  ex- 
haustive treatise  on  education  in  general,  but  a  volume  of 


IV  PREFACE. 

principles,  directions,  and  working  models  for  the  prac- 
tical guidance  of  the  rank  and  file  in  the  great  army  of 
common-school  teachers. 

In  the  statement  of  general  principles  in  education,  I 
have  quoted  from  the  thinkers  and  writers  of  the  present 
rather  than  the  past,  in  order  fairly  to  present  advanced 
ideas,  and  to  give  the  young  teacher  occasional  glimpses 
of  a  modern  educational  literature  outside  of  mere  hand- 
books and  text -books.  The  practical  directions,  drawn 
largely  from  the  common  stock  of  school  methods,  are 
substantiated  by  opinions  quoted  from  eminent  living 
American  teachers  and  superintendents.  The  working 
models  are  made  up  of  exercises  that  were  prepared  for 
use,  and  were  actually  used  for  several  years,  in  a  large 
public  school.  The  whole  book,  indeed,  owes  its  exist- 
ence to  the  practical  needs  of  a  normal  class-room. 

Personal  experience  in  teaching  is  a  good  school,  but  a 
slow  and  costly  one.  Looking  back  over  a  varied  experi- 
ence of  thirty  years,  I  deeply  realize  how  great  would 
have  been  my  vantage-ground  had  I  begun  with  a  more 
thorough  professional  training  and  a  wider  acquaintance 
with  educational  literature.  If  I  have  failed  to  seize 
upon  essentials,  the  failure  is  not  from  lack  of  opportu- 
nity to  observe  the  need  of  them.  In  a  new  state,  I  have 
taken  a  part  in  the  organization  of  a  school  system  almost 
from  the  beginning.  My  personal  experience  includes 
actual  teaching  in  country,  city,  ungraded,  half-graded, 


PREFACE.  V 

graded,  evening,  primary,  grammar,  high,  and  normal 
schools,  and  several  years'  service  in  state  and  city  super- 
intendence. Though  not  so  good  as  I  would  like  to  make 
it,  this  book  is  submitted  with  the  hope  that  it  may  save 
some  beginners  from  wasting  time  and  efforts  in  un- 
profitable empirical  experiments,  and  that  some  veteran 
teachers  may  find  in  it  a  confirmation  of  principles  and 
methods  arrived  at  in  the  course  of  their  own  life-work. 

For  criticisms  and  suggestions  I  am  under  special  obli- 
gations to  Professor  George  "W".  Minns,  of  Concord,  Mass., 

and  to  John  Muir.  of  California. 

J.S. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 
SCHOOLS  AND   SCHOOL-TEACHING. 

PAGS 

I.  GENERAL  REMARKS    ..." 1 

II.  THE  SCIENCE  OF  TEACHING 2 

III.  THE  ART  OF  TEACHING 5 

IV.  THE  PROFESSION  OF  TEACHING .10 

V.  THE  NEXT  STEP 13 

VI.  THE  SCHOLARSHIP  OF  TEACHERS 16 

VII.  TEACHERS'  ASSOCIATIONS .19 

VIII.  EDUCATIONAL  POWER ,20 

IX.  THE  COMMON-SCHOOL  SYSTEM 21 

CHAPTER  II. 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING. 

I.  ITS  IMPORTANCE .23 

II.  WAYS  AND  MEANS .27 

III.  PRACTICAL  DIRECTIONS 28 

IV.  INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING  . »     >     31 

V.  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION .  32 

VI.  SCHOOL  HYGIENE 34 

VII.  RULES  OF  HEALTH  FOR  PUPILS  .        37 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 
MORAL  TRAINING. 

PAGE 

I.  GENERAL  REMARKS 39 

II.  THE  SPHERE  OF  SCHOOL 40 

III.  POSSIBILITIES  AND  CONDITIONS 42 

IV.  GENERAL  DIRECTIONS  FROM  HERBERT  SPENCER.     .     .  44 
V.  PRACTICAL  HINTS 45 

CHAPTER  IV. 

INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING. 

I.  CLASSIFICATION  OF  THE  INTELLECTUAL  FACULTIES    .     .  54 
II.  THE  PERCEPTIVE  FACULTIES 55 

III.  THE  EXPRESSIVE  FACULTIES 58 

IV.  THE  REFLECTIVE  FACULTIES 59 

CHAPTER  Y. 
SCHOOL  GOVERNMENT. 

I.  CORPORAL  PUNISHMENT 64 

II.  SELF-CONTROL 66 

III.  PUBLIC  OPINION  OF  THE  SCHOOL 67 

IV.  EMULATION 67 

V.  SCHOOL  DISCIPLINE .  68 

VI.  OBSTINACY 69 

VII.  SCHOOL  DESPOTISM 69 

VIII.  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  FROM  HERBERT  SPENCER.  .  .  70 

IX.  CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS 71 

X.  PUNISHMENT 75 

CHAPTER  VI. 
SPECIAL  DIRECTIONS  FOR  SCHOOL-ROOM  MANAGEMENT. 

I.  SPECIAL  DIRECTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  PRINCIPALS.  78 
II.  SPECIAL  DIRECTIONS  FOR  ASSISTANTS  .  85 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PACK 

III.  MANAGEMENT  IN  GENERAL 88 

IV.  CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  THE  CLASS  TEACHER  .        91 
V.  METHODS  IN  RECITATIONS 95 

VI.  THE  MINIMUM  OF  RULES 98 

VII.  SPECIFIC  DIRECTIONS  FOR  PUPILS 98 

VIII.  DIRECTIONS  ABOUT  WRITTEN  EXAMINATIONS          .    •.       99 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  UNGRADED  COUNTRY  SCHOOLS. 

I.  GENERAL  REMARKS 101 

II.  THINGS  ESSENTIAL 103 

III.  MISCELLANEOUS  THINGS 110 

IV.  MINOR  MATTERS 113 

V.  ADVANTAGES  OF  COUNTRY  SCHOOLS 115 

VI.  CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS .          117 


PART  II. 

CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING   COMMON- 
SCHOOL  ESSENTIALS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  FROM 

I.  JOHN  STUART  MILL 121 

II.  THOMAS  H.  HUXLEY 121 

III.  SUPERINTENDENT  ELIOT 122 

IV.  ALEXANDER  BAIN.     . 122 

CHAPTER  II. 

CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  READING. 

I.  DIRECTIONS 123 

II.  QUOTATIONS  FROM  EDUCATORS 129 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  SPELLING,  WORD- 
ANALYSIS,  AND  DEFINING. 

I.  SPELLING 132 

(1.)  SPELLING 133 

(2.)  SPELLING-GAMES 134 

(3.)  WRITTEN  EXERCISES  FOR  PRIMARY  CLASSES  .  135 
(4.)  WRITTEN  EXERCISES  FOR  GRAMMAR  GRADES.  .  136 
(5.)  ORAL  EXERCISES  FOR  GRAMMAR  GRADES.  .  .  136 

II.  WORD-ANALYSIS 136 

(1.)  DIRECTIONS 137 

(2.)  WORD-MATCHES 138 

III.  DEFINING  .  139 


CHAPTER  IV. 
CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  ARITHMETIC.  141 

CHAPTER  Y. 

CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  LANGUAGE-LES- 
SONS, GRAMMAR,  AND  COMPOSITION. 

I.  LANGUAGE-LESSONS  AND  GRAMMAR 150 

II.  ENGLISH  COMPOSITION 155 

(1.)  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHERS 155 

(2.)  DIRECTIONS  TO  BE  GIVEN  TO  PUPILS  ....     156 

CHAPTER  VI. 
CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY. 

I.  DIRECTIONS 157 

II.  GEOGRAPHY  MATCHES 161 

III.  GEOGRAPHICAL  EXERCISES 162 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER  VII. 

HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

PAGE 

I.  DIRECTIONS 164 

II.  CLASS  EXERCISES 167 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

OBJECT-LESSONS  AND  THE  ELEMENTS  OF  NATURAL 
SCIENCE. 

I.  HINTS  ON  OBJECT-LESSONS 168 

II.  ELEMENTS  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCE 171 

III.  QUOTATIONS  FROM  EDUCATORS 170 

CHAPTER  IX. 

WRITING  AND  DRAWING. 

I.  HINTS  ON  WRITING 178 

II.  HINTS  ON  DRAWING 180 

III.  QUOTATIONS  FROM  EDUCATORS      .     . 182 

CHAPTER  X. 

MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

I.  Music 184 

II.  MANNERS 184 


PART  III. 

WORKING-MODELS  IN  ESSENTIALS. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 187 

CHAPTER  I. 
WORKING-MODELS  FOR  READING-LESSONS. 

I.  LESSONS  IN  WORD-MAKING 189 

II.  LESSONS  FOR  PRIMARY  GRADES      .     .  190 


Xli  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

III.  MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES 191 

IV.  LESSONS  FOR  LOWER  GRAMMAR  GRADES  ....  191 
V.  LESSONS  FOR  HIGHER  GRAMMAR  GRADES    .     .     .     .194 

CHAPTER  II. 
WORKING  MODELS  IN  ARITHMETIC. 

I.  LESSONS  FOR  BEGINNERS .     .     .  196 

II.  LESSONS  FOR  SECOND  TERM  OR  YEAR 207 

III.  LESSONS  FOR  THIRD  TERM  OR  YEAR 212 

IV.  DRILL  EXERCISES  IN  THE  FOUR  RULES 213 

V.  WORKING  MODELS  IN  COMMON  FRACTIONS    .     .     .  215 

VI.  FRACTIONS  FOR  GRAMMAR-SCHOOL  GRADES.     .     .     .  219 

VII.  WORKING  MODELS  IN  MENTAL  ARITHMETIC  .     .     .  224 

VIII.  WORKING  MODELS  IN  THE  TABLES 227 

IX.  THE  METRIC  SYSTEM 230 

CHAPTER  III. 
WORKING  MODELS  IN  GEOGRAPHY. 

I.  GLOBE  LESSONS  FOR  BEGINNERS 233 

II.  SECOND  SERIES  OF  GLOBE  LESSONS 236 

III.  LESSONS  IN  LOCAL  GEOGRAPHY 239 

IV.  CLIMATE  AND  THE  ZONES 242 

V,  QUESTIONS  ON  LOCAL  WEATHER  CONDITIONS  .     .     .  243 

VI.  LOCAL  STATE  GEOGRAPHY 244 

VII.  COMPOSITIONS  ON  GEOGRAPHY 246 

VIII.  FACTS  ABOUT  OUR  OWN  COUNTRY 249 

IX.  FACTS  ABOUT  THE  CONTINENTS 251 

X.  PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  THE  GLOBE 253 

XI.  GENERAL  REVIEW  QUESTIONS 255 

CHAPTER  IV. 
LANGUAGE-LESSONS  AND  COMPOSITION  FOR  BEGINNERS. 

(a.)  COPYING  SHORT  STORIES 258 

(b.)  SENTENCE-MAKING 262 


CONTENTS.  Xlii 

PAGU 

(c.)  LETTER-WRITING 264 

(d.)  SHORT  COMPOSITIONS 265 

CHAPTER  Y. 
PRACTICAL  COMPOSITION  IN  GRAMMAR  GRADES. 

I.  NARRATION  AND  DESCRIPTION 269 

II.  LETTER- WRITING 270 

III.  IMAGINATIVE  LETTERS 270 

IV.  ABSTRACTS  FROM  MEMORY .  271 

V.  STORIES  OF  THE  IMAGINATION 271 

VI.  SHORT  DESCRIPTIONS  OF  TREES 272 

VII.  METALS  AND  MINERALS 272 

VIII.  MANUFACTURED  ARTICLES 273 

IX.  GEOGRAPHICAL  COMPOSITIONS 273 

X.  GENERAL  EXERCISES 274 

XL  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 274 

XII.  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES 276 

XIII.  NATURAL  HISTORY  SKETCHES 277 

CHAPTER  VI. 
WORKING  MODELS  IN  SENTENCE-MAKING. 

I.  THE  SIMPLE  SENTENCE 279 

II.  THE  COMPLEX  SENTENCE 287 

III.  THE  COMPOUND  SENTENCE 293 

IV.  EXAMINATION  QUESTIONS  IN  LANGUAGE-LESSONS  AND 

GRAMMAR 295 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PUNCTUATION   OF  SENTENCES. 
I.  THE  SIMPLE  SENTENCE    .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .  300 

II.  THE  COMPLEX  SENTENCE 303 

III.  THE  COMPOUND  SENTENCE 304 

IV.  QUOTATION  MARKS 306 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
RULES  FOB  WRITING  GOOD  ENGLISH. 

FAGX 

I.  WORDS 307 

II.  ORDER  OF  WORDS 310 

III.  BREVITY 313 

IV.  FIGURATIVE  LANGUAGE 314 

CHAPTER  IX. 

REVIEW  QUESTIONS  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES 319 

CHAPTER  X. 
PRACTICAL  HINTS  IN  SCHOOL  ETHICS. 

I.  LESSONS  FOR  YOUNGER  PUPILS 322 

II.  LESSONS  FOR  OLDER  PUPILS 323 

III.  A  TEACHER'S  MINIMUM  LIBRARY  .     .     ,     .  •  .     .    .     .325 


METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 

PART  I. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  IN  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SCHOOLS   AND  SCHOOL-TEACHING. 

I.     GENERAL    REMARKS. 

THERE  is  a  profession  of  law,  of  medicine,  and  of  the- 
ology: is  there  a  profession  of  teaching?  The  skilful 
practice  of  any  pursuit  is  termed  an  art :  is  there  an 
art  of  teaching?  There  seems  to  be  a  popular  opinion 
handed  down  from  the  past  tnat  anybody  who  has  been 
"educated"  can  teach  school ;  and  that  there  is  no  art  of 
teaching,  no  science  underlying  the  practice  of  teaching, 
and  therefore  no  profession  of  teaching.  In  most  parts  of 
our  country,  the  impression  prevails  that  anybody  who  can 
pass  an  examination  and  get  a  certificate  is  a  duly  qualified 
teacher,  and,  consequently,  that  no  specific  preparation  for 
teaching  is  necessary  other  than  personal  experience  de- 
rived from  actual  work  in  the  schoolroom.  And  there 
is  some  ground  for  this  opinion.  Out  of  300,000  teach- 
ers in  the  United  States,  not  more  than  one  in  ten  is  a 
graduate  of  the  normal  school ;  of  the  remaining  nine 
tenths,  some  have  fitted  themselves  by  thorough  self-cult- 


2  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

ure  to  do  the  best  kind  of  professional  work,  but  more 
are  merely  unskilled  school-keepers.  Of  this  latter  class, 
most  have  gained  little  by  experience  except  a  narrow 
conceit  in  their  own  empirical  methods.  Knowing  noth- 
ing whatever  of  modern  investigations  in  physiology,  bi- 
ology, and  sociology,  they  sneer  at  all  attempts  at  form- 
ulating the  principles  of  teaching  into  a  science. 

In  our  educational  centres,  however,  it  is  evident  that 
the  opinion  is  steadily  gaining  ground  that  education  is 
based  upon  scientific  principles,  and  that  there  ought  to 
be  a  profession  of  teaching.  The  number  of  normal 
schools  grows  larger  year  by  year.  In  several  cities  only 
normal  graduates  are  employed  as  teachers ;  and  in  many 
places  the  preference  is  given  to  professionally  trained 
teachers.  Moreover,  teachers'  institutes  and  associations 
are  diffusing  a  professional  spirit  more  and  more  widely ; 
the  number  of  men  and  women  who  read  educational 
journals  and  imbibe  their  progressive  spirit  is  far  in  ex- 
cess of  former  times ;  and,  at  length,  some  school-officers, 
and  a  few  thinkers  among 'citizens  at  large,  begin  to  give 
evidence  of  a  nebulous  perception  of  the  truth  that  teach- 
ers, as  well  as  lawyers,  doctors,  clergymen,  and  artisans, 
need  special  training  for  their  business. 

II.    THE    SCIENCE   OF    TEACHING. 

"In  every  department  of  human  affairs,"  says  John 
Stuart  Mill,  "  practice  long  precedes  science ;  systematic 
inquiry  into  the  modes  of  action  of  the  powers  of  nature 
is  the  tardy  product  of  a  long  course  of  efforts  to  use  those 

fowers  for  practical  ends." 
The  science  of  teaching  is  a  classification  of  principles 
derived  by  observation,  investigation,  and  experience  from 


SCHOOLS    AND    SCHOOL-TEACHING.  3 

a  knowledge  of  tilings  to  be  taught,  and  from  a  study  of 
the  child  to  be  trained.^]  The  object  of  school  education 
is  to  aid  the  mental,  moral,  and  physical  development  of 
the  child  by  means  of  appropriate  training  and  instruc- 
tion in  the  kinds  of  knowledge  required  by  existing  social 
conditions  as  an  outfit  for  the  duties  of  life.  From  age 
to  age  school  instruction  has  been  modified  to  meet  the 
new  wants  of  each  succeeding  generation  occasioned  by 
each  successive  advance  in  civilization. 

The  child,  too,  is  a  variable  factor.  It  is  an  old  saying 
that  human  nature  is  the  same  in  all  ages  the  world  over; 
but  this  proverb,  despite  the  wisdom  of  our  ancestors,  is 
a  fallacy.  The  child  is  not  plastic  clay  in  the  hands  of 
the  potter,  nor  a  sheet  of  blank  paper  to  be  written  upon ; 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  bundle  of  inherited  tendencies 
and  capacities.  Education  merely  aids  development,  and 
directs  latent  tendencies ;  it  cannot  create  powers,  and 
often  fails  to  control  them.  Teaching,  therefore,  must 
depend  in  a  great  measure  upon  the  transmitted  nature 
of  the  child  to  be  taught.  The  child  of  prehistoric  man, 
born  in  some  cave  at  the  close  of  the  last  glacial  period, 
had  little  except  form  in  common  with  children  now 
living  in  New  York,  London,  or  Berlin.  It  is  evident 
that  the  child  of  an  Apache  Indian  or  an  Australian  sav- 
age cannot  be  trained  successfully  by  the  educational 
processes  which  are  adapted  to  the  hereditary  capacities 
of  children  that  represent  the  highest  type  of  human  de- 
velopment. 

Hence  no  one  particular  age  can  prescribe  the  methods 
of  education  for  succeeding  ages ;  no  one  nation  for  all 
other  nations ;  no  one  race  for  all  other  races.  Schools 
are  an  organic  growth  of  society.  They  represent,  more 


4:  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

or  less  perfectly,  the  wants  and  spirit  of  a  nation.  Mod- 
ern methods  of  teaching  should  therefore  represent  the 
existing  state  of  knowledge  and  civilization,  not  the  obso- 
lete learning  or  methods  of  past  ages ;  but  traditional  cult- 
ure, like  customs,  manners,  habits,  and  laws,  too  often  holds 
sway  long  after  the  causes  that  organized  it  have  ceased  to 
act.  "  Like  political  constitutions,"  says  Herbert  Spencer, 
"  educational  systems  are  not  made,  but  grow,  and  within 
brief  periods  growth  is  insensible." 

While  it  cannot  be  claimed  as  yet  that  teaching  is  a 
fully  developed  science,  great  progress  has  been  made  in 
formulating  the  principles  that  underlie  the  best  of  our 
present  methods  of  instruction.  Educational  history  is 
full  of  errors,  most  of  which  were  the  result  of  empirical 
methods.  Experience  in  this  field,  as  in  every  other,  in 
order  to  be  of  any  value,  must  be  the  result  of  experi- 
ments directed  by  the  light  of  science,  and  must  have  for 
its  objective  point  the  welfare  of  every  child  in  the  na- 
tion. "No  matter  how  limited  the  strictly  scientific  do- 
main of  education  is  considered  to  be,"  says  Mr.  Soldan, 
of  St.  Louis,  "  it  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  such  a 
science;  and  it  should  be  mastered  before  the  practical 
duties  of  teaching  are  assumed.  In  other  pursuits  the 
tyro  may  be  allowed  to  spoil  and  waste  the  first  piece  of 
work,  but  in  teaching  the  material  is  too  precious  to  ad- 
mit of  useless  experiment." 

"Our  teachers,"  says  Mr.  E.  L.  Youmans,  Editor  of  the 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  etc.,  "  mostly  belong  to  the 
old  dispensation.  Their  preparation  is  chiefly  literary. 
Their  art  is  a  mechanical  routine ;  and  hence,  very  natural- 
ly, while  admitting  the  importance  of  advancing  views, 
they  really  cannot  see  what  is  to  be  done  about  it.  When 


SCHOOLS   AND    SCHOOL-TEACHING.  5 

we  say  that  education  is  an  affair  of  the  laws  of  our  being, 
involving  a  wide  range  of  considerations — involving,  in 
short,  a  complete  acquaintance  with  corporeal  conditions, 
which  science  alone  can  give  —  when  we  hint  of  these 
things,  we  seem  to  be  speaking  in  an  unknown  tongue; 
or,  if  intelligible,  then  very  irrelevant  and  unpractical." 

"  The  teaching  method,"  says  Professor  Bain, "  is  arrived 
at  in  various  ways.  One  principal  mode  is  experience  of 
the  work  :  this  is  the  inductive,  or  practical,  source.  An- 
other mode  is  education  from  the  laws  of  the  human 
mind :  this  is  the  deductive,  or  theoretical,  source.  The 
third  and  best  mode  is  to  combine  the  two ;  to  rectify  em- 
pirical teaching  by  principles,  and  to  qualify  deductions 
from  principles  by  practical  experience." 

III.    THE    ART    OF    TEACHING. 

"  Art,"  says  Professor  Joseph  Le  Conte,  "  is  the  result, 
at  first,  of  the  empirical  method ;  science  always  of  the  ra- 
tional method.  Art  leads  upward  to  the  comprehension 
of  science ;  but  science,  when  sufficiently  perfect,  turns 
again  and  perfects  art." 

The  art  of  school-teaching  consists  in  the  skilful  appli- 
cation of  the  great  body  of  rules  and  methods  deduced 
from  science,  observation,  experiment,  and  practice;-'  In 
other  words,  the  art  lies  in  teaching  according  to  laws 
based  upon  a  scientific  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the 
child  to  be  instructed. 

"  Successful  teaching,"  says  Mr.  Dickinson,  Secretary  of 
the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  "  is  the  product  of 
knowledge,  skill,  and  experience.  The  teacher  must  have 
a  good  knowledge  of  the  mind,  of  the  facts  he  is  to  teach, 
of  the  sciences  which  rest  upon  them,  and  of  the  end  to  be 


6  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

secured  by  school-work.  He  must  have  skill  in  applying  his 
method,  or  he  will  fail  to  awaken  right  ideas,  or  he  will  do 
for  the  pupil  what  the  pupil  should  do  for  himself,  or  he 
will  talk  too  much,  or  spend  time  in  teaching  what  is  not 
worth  knowing.  He  must  have  experience,  or  he  will 
be  liable  to  violate  all  the  principles  of  good  teaching  in 
attempting  to  apply  them." 

It  is  an  axiom  in  the  art  of  teaching  that  it  is  what  the 
child  does  for  himself  and  by  himself,  under  wise  guid- 
ance, that  educates  him. 

Now,  the  untrained  and  unskilled  teacher,  ignorant  of 
the  laws  of  mind,  believes  that  children  are  educated 
mainly  by  what  they  are  told,  or  by  what  they  commit  to 
memory  from  books.  He  fills  all  children  to  the  brim  with 
facts.  Like  Gradgrind  and  M'Choakumchild  in  Dickens, 
he  seems  "a  kind  of  cannon,  loaded  to  the  muzzle  with 
facts,  and  prepared  to  blow  the  boys  and  girls  clean  out  of 
the  regions  of  childhood  at  one  discharge."  His  fetich  is 
tlte  school  text-book.  It  is  ugly,  but  he  worships  it,  and 
makes  his  pupils  bow  down  before  it.  To  him  the  child  has 
but  one  intellectual  faculty,  and  that  is  memory.  He  en- 
lists pain  in  his  service,  and  drives  his  pupils  by  main  force. 

Mill  says  that  if  there  is  a  first  principle  in  education,  it 
is  this :  "  That  the  discipline  which  does  good  to  the  mind 
is  that  in  which  the  mind  is  active,  not  passive  ;  the  secret 
of  developing  the  faculties  is  to  give  them  much  to  do, 
and  much  inducement  to  do  it."  Tyndall  says,  "  The  ex- 
ercise of  the  mind,  like  that  of  the  body,  depends  for  its 
value  upon  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  accomplished."  Spen- 
der says,  "  The  child  should  be  told  as  little  as  possible, 
and  induced  to  discover  as  much  as  possible."  But  the 
unskilled  teacher  blunders  along  as  if  Mill,  Spencer,  Tyn- 


SCHOOLS   AND   SCHOOL-TEACHING.  7 

dall,  Froebel,  and  Pestalozzi  had  never  lived,  thought,  ol> 
served,  discovered,  and  written.  He  recognizes  no  educa- 
tional authority  but  himself.  He  teaches  in  the  "  good 
old  way"  handed  down  by  imitation  from  the  past — a 
"  way  "  still  perpetuated,  not  only  in  common-schools  both 
in  the  city  and  country,  but  also  in  not  a  few  high-schools 
and  colleges. 

Agassiz  said  the  worst  service  a  teacher  could  render  a 
pupil  was  to  give  him  a  ready-made  answer ;  but  the  school- 
keeper  tells  everything  in  advance.  Spencer,  Bain,  Corne- 
nius,  and  other  educators  agree  that  in  every  branch  of 
study  the  mind  should  be  conducted  to  principles  through 
the  medium  of  examples,  and  so  should  be  led  from  the 
particular  to  the  general,  the  simple  to  the  complex,  the 
concrete  to  the  abstract,  the  indefinite  to  the  definite,  the 
empiricaHo  the  rational  or  scientific.  But  the  unscientific 
teacher  violates  all  these  rules.  In  arithmetic,  he  begins 
with  definitions,  continues  in  abstractions  and  mechanical 
rules,  and  ends  in  puzzling  problems.  In  grammar,  he 
omits  the  actual  use  of  language  in  expressing  thought, 
and  devotes  his  attention  to  the  technicalities  of  parsing 
and  analysis.  In  geography,  he  is  content  to  have  his  pu- 
pils memorize  names  regardless  of  ideas.  In  history,  he 
strings  dates  like  wooden  beads  upon  the  thread  of  mem- 
ory. In  reading,  he  trains  pupils  to  call  words  without 
much  reference  to  meaning.  ,  In  botany,  he  takes  books 
before  flowers,  and  in  physics  omits  experiments.  Object- 
lessons  he  regards  with  disdain.  In  fact,  he  does  not  edu- 
cate at  all ;  that  is,  he  does  not  draw  out,  train,  and  disci- 
pline ;  he  does  not  awaken  curiosity,  nor  excite  inquiry, 
nor  develop  discrimination. 

In  view  of  the  charlatanism  and  empiricism  so  wide- 


8  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

spread  in  methods  of  instruction,  we  may  well  be  tolerant 
towards  those  who  assert  that  there  is,  as  yet,  in  our  com- 
mon-schools, neither  an  art  nor  a  science  of  teaching. 
"  Our  schools,"  said  Agassiz,  "  are  the  treadmills  of  knowl- 
edge, while  they  might  be  made  the  living  sources  of 
knowledge." 

Mr.  Dickinson,  of  Massachusetts,  says,  in  his  recent  re- 
port, "  The  old  methods  of  teaching  are  still  generally 
practised.  Lessons  to  be  committed  to  memory  are  still 
assigned  from  books ;  and  then  the  teacher,  by  question 
arid  answer,  conducts  the  recitation." 

A  state  superintendent,  who  had  made,  during  a  four 
years'  term  of  office,  hundreds  of  visits  to  country  schools, 
recently  stated  that  he  never  once  saw  a  teacher  conduct- 
ing a  recitation  without  a  text-book  in  hand ;  that  he  sel- 
dom saw  either  teacher  or  scholar  at  the  blackboard ;  that 
he  never  saw  a  school  globe  actually  in  use ;  that  pupils 
seemed  to  know  nothing  of  local  geography,  and  when 
asked  to  point  north,  uniformly  pointed  overhead  to  the 
zenith ;  that  he  saw  but  one  school  cabinet ;  that  he  never 
saw  a  teacher  give  an  object-lesson ;  and  that  he  never 
found  a  school  where  pupils  had  been  taught  how  to  write 
a  letter  either  of  business  or  friendship. 

An  examiner  in  one  of  the  ten  largest  cities  of  our 
country  says  that  he  found  many  classes  of  children  in 
the  primary  department  who,  after  attending  school  three 
years,  had  never  made  a  figure  or  letter  upon  the  black- 
board ;  that  oral  lessons  were  copied  into  blank-books  and 
memorized  by  pupils;  that  the  school  globe  was  used 
only  to  show  that  the  earth  is  round ;  that  most  of  the 
teaching  consisted  in  hearing  verbatim  recitations;  that 
in  more  than  half  the  recitations  written  answers  were 


SCHOOLS   AND    SCHOOL-TEACHING.  9 

required  ;  that  pupils  were  worried  by  frequent  written  ex- 
aminations ;  and  that  the  anxiety  of  teachers  seemed  to  be 
not  to  develop  the  faculties  of  pupils,  but  to  get  them 
through  the  annual  official  written  examination  into  the 
next  higher  grade.  This  crude  teaching  was  the  result, 
partly  of  bad  supervision,  and  partly  of  untrained  teachers. 
Such  work  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  popular  notion 
"  that  anybody  can  keep  school."  And  it  is  hopeless  to 
expect  that  teachers  who  are  ignorant  of  their  own  igno- 
rance, who  have  grown  wrongheaded  from  haphazard  ex- 
perience, and  conceited  from  their  narrow-mindedness,  will 
ever  become  anything  more  than  machine  teachers,  mark- 
ing their  pupils  with  a  stencil-plate.  It  is  this  class  of 
pedagogues  that  Carlyle  has  so  graphically  made  immortal 
in  the  following  paragraph  : 

"  My  teachers  were  hide-bound  pedants  without  knowl- 
edge of  man's  nature,  or  of  boys,  or  of  aught  save  lexi- 
cons. Innumerable  dead  vocables  they  crammed  into  us, 
and  called  it  fostering  the  growth  of  the  mind.  How  can 
an  inanimate  mechanical  verb-grinder  foster  the  growth 
of  anything,  much  more  of  mind,  which  grows,  not  like  a 
vegetable  by  having  its  roots  littered  by  etymological  com- 
post, but,  like  a  spirit,  by  mysterious  contact  with  spirit- 
thought  kindling  itself  at  the  fire  of  living  thought !  How 
shall  he  give  kindling  in  whose  own  inward  man  there  is 
no  live  coal  but  is  burned  out  to  a  dead  grammatical  cin- 
der? My  professors  knew  syntax  enough,  and  of  the  hu- 
man soul  this  much — that  it  had  a  faculty  called  memory, 
and  could  be  acted  on  through  the  muscular  integument 
by  the  appliance  of  birch-rods." 

The  greatest  waste  of  time  and  money  in  our  school- 
system  comes  from  the  employment  of  untrained  teachers 

i* 


10  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

who,  finally,  learn  how  to  teach  after  a  fashion  ;  but  who 
spoil  a  great  many  classes  before  they  learn  how  to  teach 
at  all.  The  true  economy  of  school  management  is  the 
employment  of  professionally  educated  teachers,  and  the 
exclusion  of  itinerants  and  bunglers.  "  The  chief  func- 
tion of  the  normal  school,"  says  Thomas  Hunter,  Presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  Normal  College,  "  is  to  prevent 
machine  teaching."  Our  common-schools  need  not  more 
laws,  rules,  and  regulations,  but  better-trained  teachers  in 
the  school-houses.  "  A  good  school,"  says  President  Eliot, 
of  Harvard  University,  "is  a  man  or  a  woman." 

IV.   THE    PROFESSION    OF   TEACHING. 

Except  in  a  few  colleges  and  universities,  it  cannot  be 
said  that  there  is  in  our  country  a,  profession  of  teaching. 
There  are,  it  is  true,  many  men  and  women  who  have 
made  teaching  their  life-work ;  but  they  have  little  or  no 
legal  recognition  as  professional  teachers.  The  peripatetic 
pedagogue  is  found  only  in  the  remotest  rural  districts  on 
the  borders  of  civilization,  yet  all  teachers  are  still  regarded 
by  law  and  by  custom  as  itinerants.  In  many  states  "  the 
law  "  requires  teachers  to  be  examined  annually  for  a  cer- 
tificate "  to  teach  a  common-school  one  year."  In  every 
state  of  the  Union,  law — or  custom  stronger  than  law — 
requires  that  teachers  shall  be  appointed  annually  "  for 
the  term  of  one  year."  But  in  no  state  does  "  the  law  " 
require  any  professional  training  whatever  as  a  prereq- 
uisite "for  teaching  a  common -school  one  year."  The 
legal  status  of  the  teacher  is  strictly  in  accordance  with 
the  popular  fallacy  that  anybody  who  can,  in  any  way, 
get  a  certificate  is  fit  to  keep  school.  In  a  few  states  and 
cities  there  is  a  protozoic  indication  of  an  order  of  de- 


SCHOOLS   AND   SCHOOL-TEACHING.  H 

velopment  higher  than  that  of  the  single-cell  certificate ; 
but,  before  teachers  can  gain  a  professional  footing,  there 
must  be  some  general  system  of  permanent  diplomas  au- 
thorized by  state  law,  as  are  medical  diplomas,  or  licenses 
to  practise  law. 

Have  we  not  reached  such  a  stage  of  progress  that  a 
normal-school  diploma  may  safely  be  taken  as  prima facie 
evidence  of  fitness  to  teach,  or  that  the  life  diploma  of 
one  state  may  be  legally  recognized  in  every  other  ?  Must 
local  exclusiveness  stand  forever  a  Chinese  wall  in  the 
way  of  the  school-teacher  ?  Must  all  teachers,  when  they 
change  their  residence,  forever  be  compelled  by  legal  en- 
actments to  halt  at  every  state  line,  or  city  limits,  or  dis- 
trict boundary,  and  submit  to  an  "  examination,"  in  order 
to  prove  that  they  are  not  educational  "tramps?"  As 
long  as  "  the  law  "  requires  teachers  to  submit  to  frequent 
and  humiliating  examinations,  so  long  will  school  officials 
regard  them,  if  not  with  contempt,  with  "  a  certain  con- 
descension." 

The  annual  election  or  appointment  of  teachers  is  an- 
other legal  barrier  against  teaching  as  a  profession.  It  is 
not  possible  to  dignify  as  a  profession  an  occupation  in 
which  men  and  women  are  subject  to  an  annual  loss  of 
place  at  the  caprice  of  ever-changing  school-boards.  Even 
under  our  civil-service  system,  by  which  places  are  parcelled 
out  as  spoils  by  the  victors,  the  tenure  of  position  is  at  least 
four  }^ears.  There  is  need  of  school-service  reform  as  well 
as  of  civil-service  reform.  There  is  only  one  large  city  in 
our  country  in  which  the  tenure  of  a  teacher's  place  is 
during  good  behavior;  everywhere  else  appointments  are 
made  annually  "  for  the  term  of  one  year." 

Among  the  minor  influences  tending  to  prevent  the 


12  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

recognition  of  teaching  as  a  profession  are  the  short  terms 
of  school  officials,  the  multiplicity  of  state  laws  and  city 
ordinances,  the  low  rates  of  teachers'  salaries,  and  the  al- 
most total  lack  of  any  discrimination  in  wages  between 
trained  teachers  and  raw  recruits.  Before  there  can  be  a 
supply  of  professional  teachers,  there  must  be  some  de- 
mand for  them  by  the  people  whose  children  go  to  school. 
There  is  still  another  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  the 
professional  teacher  in  the  large  cities  where  boards  of 
education  are  elected  by  direct  vote  at  general  elections, 
and  that  is  the  influence  of  ward  politicians  in  securing 
places  for  friends  and  relatives  as  a  reward  for  political 
or  partisan  services.  In  the  days  of  his  power,  Tweed  was 
a  dictator  of  school  appointments  in  New  York,  and  in 
smaller  cities  innumerable  smaller  Tweeds  are  still  dictat- 
ing appointments.  As  long  as  there  is  a  public  disposi- 
tion to  regard  school  departments  as  charitable  institu- 
tions where  needy  and  politically  useful  persons  can  be 
respectably  pensioned,  just  so  long  will  it  be  impossible  to 
secure  professional  teachers. 

People  are  apt  to  put  too  much  faith  in  systems,  and 
too  little  in  devoted,  educated,  and  skilled  men  and  wom- 
en. "  It  will  be  a  sorry  day  for  the  development  of  Amer- 
ican life,"  says  Superintendent  Hancock,  "when  school 
authorities  shall  come  to  consider  organization  and  method 
in  our  school  system,  however  perfect,  a  substitute  for 
brains  and  character  in  the  educator,  or  to  look  on  me- 
chanic as  the  equal  of"  dynamic  teaching."  "  If  there  be 
one  profession,"  says  Tyndall,  "  of  paramount  importance, 
I  believe  it  to  be  that  of  the  schoolmaster." 

John  D.  Philbrick,  Ex-Superintendent  of  the  Boston 
Schools,  says,  "We  cannot  too  often  repeat  the  great 


SCHOOLS   AND   SCHOOL-TEACHING.  13 

fundamental  maxim, 'As  is  the  teacher,  so  is  the  school.' 
In  the  administration  of  a  system  of  public  instruction, 
therefore,  it  should  be  the  first  and  foremost  aim  to  select 
superior  teachers,  to  retain  them  in  service,  and  to  insist 
upon  constant  progress  in  excellence.  I  trust  the  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  no  teacher  will  be  permitted  to  as- 
sume the  responsibility  of  conducting  a  primary  school 
who  has  not  been  first  thoroughly  trained  to  the  art  in  a 
model  school." 

V.   THE    NEXT    STEP. 

It  must  be  evident  that  the  weakest  point  in  our  school 
system  is  the  very  general  employment  of  untrained  teach- 
ers. The  sheet-anchor  of  our  hope  for  improvement  is  in 
the  establishment  by  legal  enactments  that  only  those  per- 
sons shall  be  eligible  to  secure  teachers'  certificates  who, 
as  a  prerequisite,  shall  have  graduated  from  a  normal 
school,  or  shall  have  pursued  in  some  other  school  a  satis- 
factory course  in  the  science  and  art  of  education,  all  hold- 
ers of  existing  certificates  to  be  ranked  as  professionals. 
In  the  outset,  this  plan  can  be  carried  into  full  effect  only 
in  the  larger  cities  and  towns.  It  will  be  impracticable  to 
establish  such  a  standard  of  attainments,  for  a  long  time 
to  come,  in  the  ungraded  country  schools,  kept  open  only 
a  part  of  the  year ;  but  to  bring  public  opinion  up  to  this 
point  should  be  the  objective  aim  of  every  educator. 
There  are  persons  born  with  the  natural  capacities  to 
make  superior  instructors,  but  there  are  no  "  born"  teach- 
ers ;  they  are  the  product  of  technical  training  superadded 
to  education.  Emerson's  general  statement  applies  with 
special  fitness  to  the  education  of  the  teacher : 

"  Our  arts  and  tools  give  to  him  who  can  handle  them 
much  the  same  advantage  over  the  novice  as  if  you  ex- 


14  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

tended  his  life  ten,  fifty,  or  a  hundred  years.  And  I  think 
it  is  the  part  of  good-sense  to  provide  every  fine  soul  with 
such  culture  that  it  shall  not,  at  thirty  or  forty  years,  have 
to  say, '  This  which  I  might  do  is  made  hopeless  through 
my  want  of  weapons.5 " 

It  is  true  that  not  all  graduates  of  medical  schools  be- 
come good  physicians ;  not  all  graduates  of  theological 
schools  become  eloquent  preachers;  not  all  graduates  of 
art  schools  become  great  artists ;  and  not  all  graduates  of 
normal  schools  become  efficient  teachers;  but  in  all  these 
cases  there  is  a  far  greater  probability  of  success  than 
there  would  be  with  persons  both  untrained  and  untried. 
Professional  schools  do  send  out  teachers  with  some  knowl- 
edge derived  from  the  experience  of  educators,  and  some 
conception  of  right  methods  of  instruction. 

There  are  in  the  United  States  about  100  public  normal 
schools  which  graduate  about  2000  teachers  every  year. 
Into  the  standing  army  of  300,000  teachers  there  are  en- 
listed annually  at  least  20,000  raw  recruits  who  have  to 
learn  how  to  teach  at  the  public  expense.  These  facts 
do  not  indicate  that  the  people  have  yet  been  educated  up 
to  the  belief  of  Horace  Mann, "  that  normal  schools  are  a 
new  instrumentality  in  the  advancement  of  the  race." 

We  need  not  on  this  account,  however,  despair  of  the 
future.  From  the  very  nature  of  the  school  systems,  our 
progress  must  be  slow.  We  have  a  multiplicity  of  state 
laws,  hundreds  of  city  charters  and  city  boards  of  educa- 
tion, thousands  of  town  committees,  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  district  trustees.  Uniform  advancement  is  impossible. 
The  school  district  is  the  unit  of  political  organization, 
and  every  district  is,  in  school  affairs,  an  independent 
republic,  or  rather  a  local  democracy.  The  schools  are 


SCHOOLS   AND   SCHOOL-TEACHING.  15 

improved  only  by  the  pressure  of  public  opinion,  and  can- 
not rise  higher  than  the  average  intelligence  of  the  com- 
munity of  which  they  are  the  outgrowth.  But  being 
under  the  direct  control  of  the  people,  they  are  vitalized 
by  the  American  spirit,  and  their  progress  is  as  certain  as 
the  advancement  of  civilization. 

In  addition  to  the  present  system  of  normal  schools,  the 
colleges  and  universities — especially  those  maintained  by 
the  state — should  establish  professorships  of  the  science 
and  art  of  education,  and  provide  postgraduate  courses 
for  those  who  intend  to  become  school-teachers  or  super- 
intendents. It  is  true  that  a  college  course,  of  itself,  may 
fit  a  graduate  for  some  kinds  of  special  teaching ;  but  it 
certainly  fails  to  prepare  one  to  become  a  good  general 
teacher  or  principal  of  a  public  school.  "Professors  of 
the  theory,  history,  and  practice  of  education  "  have  been 
appointed  in  the  universities  of  Edinburgh  and  St.  An- 
drew's, Scotland ;  and  there  is  a  movement  to  establish 
similar  chairs  in  some  of  the  English  universities.  In  our 
own  country,  this  measure  has  been  urged  by  many  prom- 
inent educators  who  consider  it  essential  to  the  future 
well-being  of  the  common-school  system.  "  Mr.  William 
Harold  Payne  has  been  recently  appointed  Professor  of 
the  Science  and  Art  of  Teaching  in  the  University  of 
Michigan.  The  University  of  Wisconsin  maintains  a 
course  of  lectures  in  Didactics.  The  University  of  Iowa 
has  maintained  her  normal  department,  with  modifica- 
tions and  improvements  on  the  original  plan,  uninterrupt- 
edly since  1855.  The  University  of  Missouri  established 
a  normal  professorship  in  1856,  and  a  normal  college  in 
1867."  The  colleges  and  universities,  combined  with  state 
and  city  normal  schools,  and  normal  classes  in  connection 


16  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

with  high-schools,  could  in  twenty  years  supply  the  nation 
with  a  corps  of  trained  and  enthusiastic  teachers.  With  a 
body  of  professional  teachers  under  the  wise  supervision 
of  trained  superintendents  and  inspectors,  the  common- 
schools  would  be  well  equipped  to  educate  the  people. 

Meanwhile,  in  many  parts  of  our  country  still  under 
rude  social  conditions,  we  must  expect  the  statement  to 
hold  true  that  was  made  by  Roger  Ascham,  "  seholemas- 
ter"  to  Queen  Elizabeth: 

"  And  it  is  pity  that  commonly  more  care  is  had,  yea, 
and  that  among  very  wise  men,  to  find  out  rather  a  cun- 
ning man  for  their  Horse  than  a  cunning  man  for  their 
Children.  For  to  the  one  they  will  gladly  give  a  Stipend 
of  two  hundred  crowns  by  the  year,  and  are  loth  to  offer 
to  the  other  two  hundred  Shillings.  God  that  sitteth  in 
Heaven  laugheth  their  choice  to  scorn,  and  rewardeth  their 
Liberality  as  it  should.  For  he  suffereth  them  to  have 
tame  and  well-ordered  Horses,  but  wild  and  unfortunate 
Children  ;  and,  therefore,  in  the  end  they  find  more  Pleas- 
ure in  their  Horse  than  Comfort  in  their  Children." 

VI.    THE    SCHOLARSHIP    OF    TEACHERS. 

Before  teaching  can  take  rank  as  a  profession,  teachers 
must  command  respect  for  their  scholarship.  If  they  con- 
fine themselves  to  the  schoolroom  ;  if  they  write  nothing, 
say  nothing,  and  do  nothing — society  will  estimate  them 
for  value  received.  Teachers  who  would  stand  high  in 
public  opinion  must  read,  study,  think,  observe,  and  take 
an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  society  outside  of  school 
lessons. 

"  The  hardest  thing  to  do  in  the  world,"  says  Emerson, 
"is  to  think."  But  the  true  teacher  must  do  more — he 


SCHOOLS   AND   SCHOOL-TEACHING.  17 

must  take  the  step  from  thought  to  action.  His  work  is 
done,  not  in  the  retirement  of  the  closet,  but  in  living 
contact  with  other  minds.  The  best  teacher  is  not  the  one 
who  has  devoured  the  most  books,  but  he  who  can  best 
kindle  young  hearts  into  enthusiasm  by  a  spark  of  electric 
fire  from  his  own  soul.  "  The  first  principle  of  human 
culture,"  says  Carlyle,  "the  foundation  of  all  but  false, 
imaginary  culture,  is  that  men  must,  before  every  other 
thing,  be  able  to  do  somewhat." 

Mere  learning  is  often  mistaken  for  scholarship,  and  a 
walking  library  for  an  electric  battery  of  thought.  "  No 
person  can  be  called  educated,"  says  Whipple,  "  until  he 
has  organized  his  knowledge  into  faculty,  and  can  wield 
it  as  a  weapon." 

The  scholarship  of  the  teacher  ought  to  be  liberal,  em- 
bracing some  knowledge  of  many  things ;  and  any  teacher 
can  make  his  culture  liberal' if  he  uses  rightly  the  leisure 
time  which  his  pursuit  affords.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  be 
many-sided ;  but  the  teacher  must  be  a  specialist  in  what- 
ever  relates  directly  to  the  science  of  education.  He  is 
judged  by  his  success  as  a  teacher,  not  as  a  scientist,  writer, 
lecturer,  or  poet.  In  his  own  profession,  when  he  rises 
above  his  routine  drudgery,  he  gets  into  the  region  of 
hard  thinking.  Climbing  mountains  is  hard  work,  and 
the  strain  is  hardest  near  the  summit.  The  teacher  who 
gets  out  of  the  sphere  of  imitation  into  that  of  invention 
and  discovery  will  find  ample  scope  for  his  powers.  One 
reason  why  self-educated  men  so  often  succeed  is,  they 
concentrate  their  energies  upon  what  they  need  to  use. 
Like  Napoleon,  they  fight  without  tents  or  baggage. 
They  acquire  a  concentrated  force  of  character,  that  stamps 
its  impress  upon  everything  with  which  it  comes  in  contact. 


18  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

Above  all  things,  the  true  teacher  should  avoid  recast 
ing  everything  in  the  mould  of  his  own  egotism.  Deal- 
ing mostly  with  young  and  immature  minds,  he  is  in  con- 
tinual danger  of  overestimating  his  own  powers.  Seldom 
questioned  in  his  assertions,  he  is  peculiarly  liable  to  be- 
come dogmatic  and  opinionated.  Everybody  knows  of 
pedantic  pedagogues  whose  conceit  is  insufferable  and  in- 
effable. They  look  wiser  than  it  is  possible  for  any  mor- 
tal to  become.  They  gain  credit,  like  Wouter  Yan  Twil- 
ler,  for  knowing  a  vast  deal  by  saying  nothing  at  all. 
The  egotistical  teacher  reverses  the  old  maxim  "All  men 
know  more  than  one  man"  so  that  it  reads  "One  man 
knows  more  than  all  men,"  he  himself  being  that  one  man. 
But  the  true  teacher  will  not  dream  his  life  away,  like  a 
Hindoo  god,  in  contemplating  his  own  perfections. 

It  is  often  said  that  teaching  school  belittles  a  man  and 
sours  a  woman.  It  may  be  "so ;  it  sometimes  is  so ;  but 
not  from  any  law  of  nature.  It  can  never  be  true  of  any 
teacher  made  alive  by  keeping  his  intellectual  and  spirit- 
ual faculties  and  emotions  in  healthful  play.  "  The  orig- 
inal and  proper  sources  of  knowledge,"  says  Blackie,  "  are 
not  books,  but  life,  experience,  personal  thinking,  feeling, 
and  acting."  These  sources  are  open  to  the  teacher  all 
his  life.  By  imparting  knowledge  he  enriches  himself, 
and  the  freshness  of  childhood  becomes  to  him  a  fountain 
of  youth.  "  All  really  superior  teachers,"  says  Mr.  Phil- 
brick,  "  are  every  day  growing  better."  "  The  teacher," 
says  Mr.  William  Eussell,  "  is  himself  a  primary  observer, 
authority,  and  reporter  in  the  science  of  mind.  His  work 
is  that  of  a  living  philosopher  in  act" 

Aside  from  the  course  of  general  reading  which  every 
teacher  ought  to  pursue,  there  must  be  some  regular  study 


SCHOOLS   AND   SCHOOL-TEACHING.  19 

of  the  science  and  art  of  teaching.  For  general  principles 
in  education,  let  him  read  the  works  of  Herbert  Spencer ; 
for  rugged  practical  suggestions,  Bain  and  Huxley ;  for  en- 
thusiasm, the  life  and  works  of  Horace  Mann.  He  should 
peruse  all  such  good  books  on  teaching  as  those  of  Russell, 
Page,  Phelps,  Hart,  G.  B.  Emerson,  Wickersham,  and  Or- 
cutt ;  and  also  all  the  school  reports  he  can  get ;  and  all 
the  educational  journals  he  can  afford  to  pay  for.  Let 
him  critically  examine  all  new  text-books  in  the  various 
branches  of  study ;  he  will  glean  some  new  method  from 
each  one.  He  ought  to  attend  teachers'  conventions,  insti- 
tutes, and  associations,  and  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings. 
The  original  thinkers,  the  discoverers,  and  inventors  may 
be  few ;  but  the  efficient  workers  are  many,  whose  mission 
is  to  aid  the  progress  of  the  race  by  earnest,  skilful,  intel- 
ligent teaching.  "  Be  ashamed  to  die,"  said  Horace  Mann, 
"  until  you  have  won  some  victory  for  humanity." 


It  is  no  wonder  that  the  solitary  teacher  in  some  rural 
district,  surrounded  by  the  protoplasm  of  humanity,  his 
labors  unappreciated,  his  motives  misunderstood,  his  ser- 
vices half  paid — it  is  no  wonder  that  he  sometimes  be- 
comes moody,  loses  his  enthusiasm,  and  imagines  that  the 
sky  is  only  a  vast  concave  blackboard  upon  which  he  is 
doomed  to  work  out  the  problem  of  a  bare  subsistence. 
He  needs  the  pleasant  intercourse  of  professional  gather- 
ings to  make  the  heavens  brighten  with  the  stars  of  hope 
and  glow  with  the  aurora  of  enthusiasm.  As  well  expect 
a  hermit  on  a  desolate  island  to  advance  in  civilization  as 
to  suppose  that  an  isolated  teacher  can  rise  far  above  his 
surroundings.  Association  is  the  motive  power  of  prog- 


20  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

ress  in  civilization,  science,  and  art.  The  world's  indus- 
trial expositions  are  dignifying  mechanics  and  artisans. 
Farmers  hold  their  state  or  district  or  county  fairs  for 
the  purpose  of  improving  their  live-stock :  they  organize 
as  "  Grangers  "  to  improve  themselves  socially  and  polit- 
ically. Printers,  carpenters,  machinists,  and  laborers,  all 
have  their  societies  and  trades-unions  for  defence  and  of- 
fence. The  lawyers,  the  doctors,  the  dentists,  the  clergy, 
the  Masons,  the  Odd-fellows,  all  have  their  societies  for 
charitable  or  protective  purposes. 

If  teachers  would  exert  any  marked  influence,  they 
must  wield  it  through  the  consolidated  power  of  organ- 
ized societies,  associations,  conventions,  and  institutes. 

VIII.   EDUCATIONAL    POWER. 

The  true  teacher  must  have  the  faith  of  martyrs.  In 
the  limited  horizon  of  the  schoolroom,  he  can  dimly  see 
only  the  beginning  of  the  effects  of  his  teaching  upon  his 
pupils.  The  solid  results,  the  building-up  of  character, 
the  creative  power  of  motives,  become  evident  only  in 
the  work  of  a  lifetime  in  the  wider  circle  of  the  world. 
Hence  the  power  of  the  teacher,  like  that  of  the  silent 
and  invisible  forces  of  nature,  is  only  feebly  realized. 

I  once  visited  a  quartz  mine  of  fabulous  richness.  Deep 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  rough  miners  were  blasting  out 
the  gold-bearing  rock ;  above,  the  powerful  mill  was  crush- 
ing the  white  quartz  with  its  iron  teeth.  In  the  office, 
piles  of  yellow  bars,  ready  to  be  sent  to  the  mint  to  be 
poured  into  the  channels  of  trade,  showed  the  immediate 
returns  of  wisely  invested  capital  and  well-directed  labor. 
An  hour  later,  I  stepped  into  a  public  school,  not  half  a 
mile  distant,  where  a  hundred  children  were  at  work  on 


SCHOOLS   AND    SCHOOL-TEACHING.  21 

their  lessons.  What  does  the  school  yield,  I  asked,  on  the" 
investment  of  money  by  the  State?  The  returns  of  the 
mine  are  made  monthly,  in  solid  bullion  ;  the  school  re- 
turns will  be  made  in  the  far  future,  and  they  cannot  be 
expressed  in  dollars. 

I  go  out  from  my  school  daily  into  the  crowded  streets 
of  a  great  commercial  city.  I  hear  everywhere  the  hum 
of  industry,  and  see  the  stir  of  business.  The  results  of 
business  are  solid  and  tangible;  but  when  I  go  back  to 
my  classes,  after  witnessing  the  mighty  play  of  industrial 
forces,  it  seems  as  if  the  teacher  were  only  a  looker-on  in 
the  bustling  life  around.  But  when  I  pause  to  consider 
that  intelligence  is  the  motive  power  of  trade ;  that  the 
steamship  is  navigated  by  means  of  science,  and  is  built 
as  a  triumph  of  art ;  that  science  surveyed  the  converg- 
ing lines  of  railroads,  and  that  skill  runs  the  trains  freight- 
ed with  the  products  of  industry  and  art,  then  I  begin  to 
perceive  the  connection  between  schools  and  the  material 
results  of  civilization.  I  realize  that  the  life  of  a  nation 
is  made  up  of  the  mothers  that  guard  the  homes,  and  the 
men  who  drive  the  plough,  build  the  ships,  run  the  mills, 
work  the  mines,  construct  the  machinery,  print  the  papers, 
shoulder  the  musket,  cast  the  ballots ;  and  it  is  for  all 
these  that  the  public  schools  have  done,  and  are  now  do- 
ing, their  beneficent  work. 

IX.   THE    COMMON-SCHOOL    SYSTEM. 

"  Whatever  you  would  have  appear  in  the  life  of  a  na- 
tion you  must  first  put  into  the  schools,"  holds  true  pre- 
eminently in  a  republic.  Our  free-school  system  has  its 
shortcomings  and  its  defects ;  but,  taken  as  a  whole,  it  is 
the  broadest  and  the  best  ever  organized.  It  is  the  duty 


22  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

of  every  true  teacher  to  strive  to  remedy  its  defects,  and 
never  to  submit  to  them  as  incurable.  When  taxes  are 
high  and  times  are  hard,  the  school  system  will  be  subject 
to  a  running  fire  of  criticism  all  along  the  line ;  but  only 
timid  and  despairing  souls  are  frightened  into  the  belief 
that  the  foundations  of  society  are  breaking  up  on  account 
of  over-education  in  the  common-schools.  Neither  repre- 
sentatives of  the  caste  of  Capital  nor  the  caste  of  Cult- 
ure can  convince  the  American  people  that  vice,  crime, 
idleness,  poverty,  social  discontent,  are  the  legitimate  re- 
sults of  an  elementary  education  among  the  workers  of 
society,  or  that  the  schoolmaster  is  a  public  enemy.  The 
sentiment  of  most  Americans  is  that  of  Daniel  Webster, 
who  once  said,  "If  I  had  as  many  sons  as  old  Priam,  I 
would  send  them  all  to  the  public  schools."  If  our  schools 
fail  to  meet  the  needs  of  changing  social  conditions,  the 
kind  and  quality,  not  the  extent,  of  education  must -be 
changed.  Neither  the  free  high-school  nor  the  free  state 
university  must  be  lopped  off.  "  No  system  of  education," 
says  Huxley,  "  is  worthy  of  the  name  unless  it  creates  a 
great  educational  ladder  with  one  end  in  the  gutter  and 
the  other  in  the  university." 

It  is  only  by  means  of  skilled  labor,  wisely  and  intelli- 
gently directed,  that  a  people  can  become  or  can  remain 
permanently  prosperous  and  happy;  it  is  only  by  means 
of  intelligent  and  honest  voters  that  law  and  liberty  can 
be  preserved  and  maintained ;  and  it  is  only  by  means  of 
a  still  more  complete  education  of  all  classes  that  human- 
ity can  rise  into  a  higher  type  of  social  evolution.  There 
is  no  slavery  so  oppressive  as  that  of  ignorance. 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING. 

\S~RAl 
or  THE 


CHAPTER  IT. 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING. 

I.   ITS    IMPORTANCE. 

ONE  of  the  most  hopeful  features  of  modern  education 
is  the  growing  recognition  of  the  importance  of  physical 
training  in  school.  By  thinkers  and  educators  the  neces- 
sity of  a  trained  body  as  the  instrument  of  a  trained  mind 
is  fully  recognized,  though  by  the  mass  of  teachers  it  is, 
as  yet,  feebly  acted  upon. 

"  To  the  wise  educator,"  says  "W.  T.  Harris,  Superin- 
tendent of  the  schools  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  "  nothing  is 
more  certain  than  that  the  child  is  an  animal  with  the  pos- 
sibility of  reason."  "To  be  a  nation  of  good  animals," 
says  Spencer,  "  is  the  first  condition  of  national  prosper- 
ity." £^No  perfect  brain  ever  crowns  an  imperfectly  de- 
veloped body,"  says  Dr.  E.  II.  Clarke,  of  BostonT7That 
tough  old  sceptic  Montaigne  says,  "  We  have  noFto  train 
up  a  soul,  nor  yet  a  body,  but  a  man,  and  we  cannot  di- 
vide him."  "Physical  training  and  drill,"  says  Huxley, 
"should  be  a  part  of  the  regular  business  of  school. 
There  is  no  real  difficulty  about  teaching  drill  and  the 
simpler  kinds  of  gymnastics.  If  something  of  the  kind 
is  not  done,  the  English  physique,  which  has  been,  land 
still  is,  on  the  whole,  a  grand  one,  will  become  in  the 
great  towns  as  extinct  as  the  dodo." 

"When  we  have  mastered  the  laws  of  physical  educa- 


24  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

tion,"  says  Professor  Yonmans,  "  we  have  the  essential 
data  for  dealing  with  questions  of  mental  education,  and 
those  steps  are  the  indispensable  preparation  for  an  en- 
lightened moral  education."  It  is  true  that  the  leading 
purpose  of  the  public  school  is  intellectual  training,  and 
true  that  physical  condition  depends  largely  upon  home 
surroundings  and  inherited  constitution.  It  may  be  true 
also  that,  considering  education  strictly  as  a  science,  phys- 
ical health  does  not  fall  within  its  domain,  but  is  to  be  as- 
sumed as  an  essential  prerequisite  of  education.  Never- 
theless, though  the  teacher  has  no  direct  control  over 
pupils  in  respect  to  diet,  clothing,  exercise,  rest,  sleep, 
work,  or  play,  yet  the  school  must  not,  on  that  account, 
shirk  its  appropriate  share  of  responsibility  in  relation  to 
bodily  development.  As  an  abstract  proposition,  no  teach- 
er will  deny  that  sound  health  is  the  true  basis  of  mental 
and  moral  culture;  the  difficulty  is  how  to  secure  it. 

There  are  certain  negative  duties  which  are  evident  and 
easy.  Teachers_should  at  least  protect  their  pupils  against 
impure  air,  too  long  confinement,  over-work,  and  the  dead- 
ening effects  of  mental  worry,  caused  by  severe  competi- 
tive written  examinations.  A  great  deal  more  than  this 
ought  to  be  done;  but  in  many  schools  not  even  this  is 
attempted. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  teacher,  whether  in  the  primary, 
grammar,  or  high  school,  whether  in  city  or  country,  to 
impress  upon  pupils,  by  emphatic  iteration,  the  laws  of 
health  in  relation  to  food,  air,  sleep,  rest,  exercise,  play, 
work,  and  personal  habits  in  general.  Teachers  should 
give  attention  to  the  encouragement  of  games,  plays,  and 
amusements,  in  addition  to  calisthenic  drill. 
P"  Play,"  says  Froebel, "  is  the  development  of  the  human 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING.  25 

mind,  its  first  effort  to  make  acquaintance  with  the  out- 
ward world.  The  child,  indeed,  recognizes  no  purpose  in 
it,  sees  not  the  end  that  is  to  be  reached;  but  it  expresses 
its  own  nature,  and  that  is  human  nature  in  its  playful 
activity."  ^j 

In  the  German  schools,  children  are  systematically 
trained  to  gymnastics,  and  the  result  is  a  national  taste 
for  athletic  sports.  English  schools  are  noted  for  foot- 
ball and  cricket,  and  Englishmen  are  famous  for  pluck. 
But  in  our  own  county,  we  must  confess  there  is  some 
truth  in  the  remark  made  by  a  foreigner,  "  that  the  only 
popular  recreation  of  the  American  is  business." 

Moreover,  it  is  a  first  principle  in  the  science  of  educa-V 
tion  that  the  best  results  in  intellectual  training  can  be  se-/ 
cured  only  by  a  correlative  physical  development.  Child-' 
hood  is  the  season  of  animal  growth.  Playfulness  is  as 
much  an  instinct  of  children  as  of  kittens  or  puppies. 
Even  in  the  icy  winters  of  the  Arctic  regions,  Dr.  Kane 
found  the  hardy  little  Esquimaux  boys  playing  ball  on  the 
frosty  snow-fields.  It  is  a  mistaken  notion  of  some  peda- 
gogues that  the  chief  end  of  children  is  to  go  to  school 
and  study  lessons  from  books.  It  is  painful  to  witness,  in 
many  schools, how  the  plastic,  growing  bodies  are  cramped, 
how  natural  impulses  are  repressed,  how  the  laws  of  nature 
are  systematically  violated.  Not  many  children,  perhaps, 
are  killed  outright  by  mental  high-pressure ;  but,  now  and 
then,  some  delicately  organized  boy,  brilliant  and  ambi- 
tious, whose  vitality  all  tends  to  brain  instead  of  body, 
drops  out  of  school  into  the  grave,  and  his  death  is  attrib- 
uted to  Providence  instead  of  to  schoolmasters.  High- 
school  diplomas,  not  a  few,  are  gained  at  the  expense  of 
sound  health,  and  girls,  not  a  few,  are  annually  made  lifo- 


26  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

long  invalids  by  over-stimulated  ambition,  long  lessons, 
short  hours  of  sleep,  and  a  lack  of  healthful  amusements. 

Physicians  know  this,  though  teachers  and  parents  shut 
their  eyes  to  the  painful  facts.  $~ot  all  the  girls  in  public 
schools  or  private  seminaries  have  round  shoulders,  crook- 
ed spines,  and  dyspepsia ;  but  how  much  greater  might  be 
their  physical  stamina  if  physical  training  received  a  small 
share  of  the  attention  given  to  music  and  mathematics? 
If  these  girls  need  mental  culture  in  order  to  make  their 
future  homes  pleasant  and  attractive,  do  they  not  also  need 
bodily  culture  to  enable  them  to  bear  the  burdens  of  do- 
mestic life  ?  In  the  struggle  for  existence,  it  is  generally 
the  strong,  active,  vigorous  boys  that  come  out  ahead,  and 
it  is  the  healthy  and  beautiful  girls  that  win  the  prizes  of 
life. 

After  admitting  all  this,  it  is  often  urged  that  systematic 
drill  soon  becomes  irksome  to  children ;  that  boys  dislike 
the  gymnasium,  and  that  girls  find  calisthenics  weari- 
some ;  that  it  is  not  natural  for  children  to  use  wands  and 
dumb-bells ;  and  that  boys  and  girls  should  be  left  to  fol- 
low their  own  inclinations  and  impulses  about  exercise  and 
amusement. 

But  school  drill  is  designed  not  to  supersede,  but  to 
supplement,  the  natural  games  and  plays  of  children.  If 
we  leave  physical  culture  wholly  to  natural  impulse,  why 
not  leave  mental  culture  to  take  care  of  itself  ?  In  men- 
tal training,  we  recognize  the  principle  that  intellectual 
development  is  attained  only  by  repeated,  long-continued, 
and  systematic  exercises.  Mental  school  gymnastics  are 
rigidly  enforced  for  many  years.  The  same  law  holds 
true  in  physical  development ;  yet  children  are  too  often 
crowded  into  small  rooms,  and  cramped  in  hard  seats— 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING.  2T 

their  muscles  weak  and  relaxed,  and  their  vital  energies 
all  concentrated  on  an  overworked  brain. 

Would  not  the  physique  of  a  class  of  boys  under  judi- 
cious gymnastic  training  for  ten  years  be  superior  to  that 
of  a  class  left  to  run  wild  ?  And  would  not  their  accumu- 
lated stock  of  trained  muscular  power  be  quite  as  service- 
able to  them  through  life  as  a  great  deal  of  what  is  called 
mental  discipline  ?  Business  men,  mechanics,  artisans, 
and  farmers  know  that  success  depends,  not  upon  intel- 
lectual attainments  so  much  as  upon  sound  health  and 
power  of  endurance.  Sinewy  frames  as  well  as  trained 
minds  are  essential  to  the  sons  of  workingmen  who  must 
make  their  own  way  in  the  world.  For  them  muscular 
power  means  food,  clothing,  and  a  living.  Their  only 
capital  in  the  struggle  for  existence  is  an  elementary  edu- 
cation and  a  sound  body.  [""  Health  is  the  first  wealth," 
says  Emerson.  The  plain  truth  is  that  no  education  is 
worth  having  at  the  expense  of  health  and  physical  vigor/]} 
"I  am  a  poor  man,"  said  a  friend  to  me,  "because  in  a 
business  crisis  I  was  sick,  and  did  the  wrong  thing ;  and  I 
was  sick  because  of  neglected  physical  training  at  school." 

II.   WAYS    AND    MEANS. 

Admitting  the  importance  of  physical  training  in  school, 
how  shall  wre  set  about  it  ?  Doubtless,  in  some  schools 
nothing  whatever  can  be  done.  In  city  schools  the  need 
is  more  pressing  than  in  country  schools.  After  many 
years  of  experience  in  directing  physical  exercises,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  possibility  of  doing  something 
depends  in  a  great  measure  on  the  interest,  enthusiasm, 
and  tact  of  the  teacher.  The  pleasantest  recollections  of 
my  earlier  years  of  teaching  are  connected  with  gymnastic 


28  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

classes  of  active  boys  who  could,  with  me,  kick  foot-ball, 
play  base-ball,  lift  dumb-bells,  swing  clubs,  climb  ladders, 
vault  bars,  walk  twenty  miles  on  Saturday,  and  roast  a 
beefsteak  on  a  pointed  stick  over  an  improvised  camp-fire. 
As  I  meet  those  boys,  now  grown  up  into  rugged  man- 
hood, I  know  by  the  way  they  grip  my  hand  and  speak  of 
the  "splendid  times  we  used  to  have,"  that  they  think  of 
me,  not  as  a  mere  schoolmaster,  but  as  the  friend  who 
shared  their  sports  and  entered  into  the  spirit  of  their 
boyhood. 

My  later  experience  in  a  girls'  high -school,  number- 
ing eight  hundred  pupils,  has  convinced  me  of  the  very 
great  value  for  girls  of  systematic  calisthenic  drill.  In 
his  Boston  report  so  long  ago  as  1860,  Superintendent 
Philbrick  said,  "  The  principal  remedy  which  I  would  sug- 
gest is  the  introduction  into  all  grades  of  our  schools  of  a 
thorough  system  of  physical  training  as  a  part  of  school 
culture."  "  Gymnastic  exercises,"  says  Secretary  Dickin- 
son, "give  grace  and  beauty  to  the  body,  and  good  train- 
ing to  the  mind." 

III.   PRACTICAL    DIRECTIONS. 

In  every  school,  whether  in  city  or  country,  there  should 
be  given  a  daily  drill  of  five  or  ten  minutes  in  free  gym- 
nastics. Without  apparatus  and  without  music,  a  skilful 
teacher  can  secure  very  good  results  from  what  may  be 
termed  "  free-arm  movements,"  executed  by  counting  in 
time.  To  these  there  may  be  added  "  breathing  exercises," 
and  concert  exercises  in  vocal  culture  or  in  singing. 

Both  wands  and  dumb-bells  can  be  used  in  any  school- 
room. Wands  will  cost  about  ten  cents  apiece,  and  light 
wooden  dumb-bells  about  twenty-five  cents  a  pair.  If 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING.  29 

there  is  a  piano  in  the  schoolroom,  the  light  gymnastic 
drill  can  be  made  quite  varied  and  thorough  with  no  other 
appliances.  If  there  is  a  hall,  wooden  rings  should  be 
added  for  girls. 

For  the  larger  boys,  there  should  be  some  inexpensive 
gymnastic  appliances  in  the  yard.  A  movable  horizontal 
bar,  a  circular  swing,  hanging  rings,  parallel  bars,  iron 
dumb-bells,  and  Indian  clubs  can  all  be  obtained  for  a 
small  expenditure. 

Any  young  lady,  even  if  not  previously  trained  in  calis- 
thenics, ought  to  be  able  to  lead  a  class  after  a  few  weeks' 
study  of  any  one  of  several  good  manuals  on  the  subject. 
Any  man,  unless  superannuated,  ought  to  be  able  to  lead, 
or  at  least  direct,  gymnastic  exercises  in  the  yard,  at  re- 
cess, intermission,  or  after  school. 

The  man  who  understands  boys  will  either  join  with 
them  or  will  encourage  and  direct  them  in  their  games  of 
ball  and  foot-ball ;  in  skating,  coasting,  and  snow-balling ; 
and  will  take  an  interest  in  their  games  of  marbles,  in 
kite-flying,  and  top-spinning.  On  pleasant  Saturdays,  or 
after  school  in  the  long  summer  days,  he  will  head  excur- 
sion parties  to  the  fields,  woods,  or  hills  after  collections 
for  the  cabinet,  or  to  see  nature,  or  merely  to  have  a  good 
time. 

The  woman  who  understands  little  children  will  invite 
them  to  pleasant  walks  with  her  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  games  of  the  primary  children  must  not  be  forgotten. 
By  a  little  attention  to  the  playground,  their  sports  may 
be  regulated  and  made  delightful.  Marbles,  tops,  kites, 
balls,  and  hoops  are  all  a  part  of  educational  apparatus. 

A  visit  to  a  kindergarten  and  a  careful  study  of  some 
kindergarten  manual  will  be  very  suggestive  in  the  direc- 


30  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

tion  of  play  and  amusements.  Teachers  must  study  vari- 
ety, for  monotonous  repetition  soon  becomes  distasteful. 
Notice  how  marbles  succeed  tops,  and  kites  follow  ball, 
and  one  play  another,  as  often  as  the  moon  changes. 

The  cold,  formal,  precise,  unsympathetic  teacher  should 
never  set  foot  on  the  playground.  An  owl  frightens  sing' 
ing  birds.  The  only  teachers  who  succeed  well  in  direct- 
ing  children  in  calisthenics,  gymnastics,  or  games  are  those 
who  can  enter  into  the  spirit  of  girlhood  and  boyhood. 
"  He  was  always  a  boy,  and  he  will  die  one,"  was  the  re- 
mark I  once  heard  made  about  one  of  the  best  teachers  I 
ever  knew. 

The  indirect  lessons  of  the  playground  are  often  more 
valuable  and  more  lasting  than  the  formal  teachings  of 
the  class-room.  For  in  the  hours  of  play,  when  off  duty, 
the  teacher  can  best  win  the  confidence  and  love  of  chil- 
dren. What  man  or  woman  would  not  be  remembered 
by  pupils  as  a  sharer  of  their  amusements,  a  director  of 
their  games,  a  sympathizer  with  their  impulses,  rather 
than  as  nothing  but  an  expounder  of  text-books  and  a 
taskmaster  of  lessons?  It  is  on  the  playground,  too,  that 
boys  get  their  first  lessons  in  social  life  outside  of  the 
family  circle. 

"You  send  a  boy  to  the  schoolmaster,"  says. Emerson, 
"  but  it  is  the  schoolboys  who  educate  him.  He  hates  the 
grammar  and  Gradus,  and  loves  guns,  fishing-rods,  horses, 
and  boats.  Well,  the  boy  is  right,  and  you  are  not  fit  to 
direct  his  bringing  up  if  your  theory  leaves  out  his  gym- 
nastic training.  Provided  always  the  boy  is  teachable, 
foot-ball,  cricket,  climbing,  fencing,  riding,  archery,  swim- 
ming, skating,  are  lessons  in  the  art  of  power  which  it  is 
his  main  business  to  learn."  "Moreover,"  says  Charles 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING.  31 

Kingsley,  "  they  know  well  that  games  conduce,  not  mere- 
Jy  to  physical,  but  to  moral  health;  that  in  the  playing- 
field  boys  acquire  virtues  that  no  books  can  give  them ; 
not  merely  daring  and  endurance,  but,  better  still,  temper, 
self-restraint,  fairness,  honor,  nnenvious  approbation  of 
another's  success,  and  all  that £  give  and  take'  of  life  which 
stands  a  man  in  such  good  stead  when  he  goes  forth  into 
the  world ;  and  without  which,  indeed,  his  success  is  al- 
ways maimed  and  partial." 


IV.   INDUSTRIAL    TRAINING. 


And,  in  connection  with  physical  training,  there  is  the 
question  of  industrial  or  technical  education  in  the  great 
cities.  In  the  country,  boys  work  on  the  farm  half  the 
year,  and  girls  work  in  the  house  all  the  year  through. 
The  country  pupils  combine  mental  and  physical  work, 
and  are  the  better  for  it. 

Children  are  not  content  with  reading  and  thinking; 
they  burn  to  be  doing  something.  The  kindergarten  sup- 
plies this  want  with  the  little  children  ;  but  from  the  age 
of  six  to  fifteen  there  is  at  present,  in  the  city  public 
school,  little  for  boys  but  books.  There  is  no  doubt 
whatever  that  many  boys  get  a  distaste  for  school,  and 
leave  it  as  soon  as  they  can  find  any  work  to  do,  and  be- 
fore they  have  obtained  any  education  beyond  the  ability 
to  read,  write,  and  cipher  a  little.  How  the  combination 
of  head-work  with  hand-work  can  be  effected,  if  at  all,  is 
one  of  the  educational  problems  of  the  future.  It  is  not 
safe  to  assert  that  it  cannot  be  done.  On  this  subject, 
John  Hancock,  of  Ohio,  speaks  as  follows : 

"But  to  impart  in  the  schools  of  our  cities  and  large 
towns  all  this  general  knowledge  and  training  without  the 


32  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

slightest  abatement,  and  to  add,  not  the  knowledge  of  a 
trade,  but  such  a  knowledge  of  the  uses  of  tools  and  ma- 
terials as  shall  enable  the  scholar  readily  to  adjust  himself 
to  several  trades,  seems  to  be  something  worth  striving  for. 
That  this  can  be  done,  and  without  greatly  lengthening 
the  period  of  school  life  or  enormously  increasing  school 
.expenses,  has  been  pretty  well  established  by  the  experi- 
ments made  within  the  last  two  or  three  years  at  the  Bos- 
ton School  of  Technology.  Indications  are  strong  that 
the  education  of  the  brain  and  of  the  hand  are,  at  no  dis- 
tant day,  to  run  on  side  by  side,  mutually  strengthening 
each  other  in  the  race.  To  unite  a  thinking  brain  with  a 
skilful  hand  is  the  way  to  make  labor  respectable,  and  any 
other  way  than  this  there  is  not  under  the  sun." 

"  Froebel  did  not  value  manual  work  for  the  sake  mere- 
ly of  making  a  better  workman,"  says  Emily  Shirreff, "  but 
for  the  sake  of  making  a  more  complete  human  being. 
His  teaching  rested  upon  the  principle  that  the  starting- 
point  of  all  we  see,  know,  are  conscious  of,  is  action,  and, 
therefore,  that  education  must  begin  in  action.  Book- 
study,  in  his  system,  is  postponed  to  the  discipline  of  the 
mental  and  physical  powers  through  observation  and 
work." 

V.   TECHNICAL    EDUCATION. 

As  yet,  technical  education  can  hardly  be  said  to  form 
a  part  of  our  common-school  system,  except  in  one  state, 
and  in  some  cities  where  a  beginning  has  been  made  in  the 
evening  schools.  I  dismiss  this  part  of  the  subject  by  giv- 
ing a  few  quotations  to  show  the  drift  of  opinion  among 
prominent^ducators : 

"Technical  education,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  term  is  ordina- 
rily used,  means  that  sort  of  education  which  is  specially  adapted 


PHYSICAL   TEAINING.  33 

to  the  needs  of  men  whose  business  in  life  it  is  to  pursue  some  kind 
of  handicraft.  .  .  .  Moreover,  those  who  have  to  live  by  labor  must 
be  shaped  to  labor  early.  The  colt  that  is  left  at  grass  too  long 
wakes  but  a  sorry  draught-horse.  Perhaps  the  most  valuable  result 
of  all  education  is  the  ability  to  make  yourself  do  the  thing  you 
have  to  do  when  it  ought  to  be  done, whether  you  like  it  or  not:  it 
is  the  first  lesson  that  ought  to  be  learned ;  and,  however  early  a 
man's  training  begins,  it  is  probably  the  last  lesson  that  he  learns 
thoroughly." — Huxley. 

"A  knowledge  of  some  form  of  industrial  labor  is  as  necessary  as 
a  knowledge  of  books,  and  the  state  which  acknowledges  its  ob- 
ligation to  teach  children  to  read  cannot  logically  deny  its  obliga- 
tion to  teach  them  to  work.  .  .  .  Do  I  think  it  possible  to  attach 
workshops  to  all  our  public  schools  ?  Certainly  not.  But  I  do  think 
it  possible  to  have  public  workshops  where  boys  can  learn  trades,  as 
well  as  public  schools  where  they  can  learn  letters.  And  just  as  we 
transfer  the  few  from  the  state  school  to  the  state  college,  where 
they  learn  to  be  thinkers,  I  would  transfer  the  many  from  the  city 
school  to  the  city  workshop,  where  they  would  learn  to  be  work- 
ers."— Superintendent  Newell,  of  Maryland. 

"  I  hold  it  to  be  a  correct  principle  that,  while  the  common-school 
does  not  aim  to  make  farmers  or  mechanics,  but  leaves  this  to  the 
special  schools,  it  is  the  business  of  the  common-schools  to  teach  the 
elements  of  technical  knowledge,  both  scientific  and  artistic." — Su- 
perintendent Carr,  of  California. 

"I  have  given  what  I  believe  a  good  reason  for  the  assumption 
that  the  keeping  at  school  of  boys  who  are  to  be  handicraftsmen 
beyond  the  age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  is  neither  practicable  nor  desir- 
able; and  it  is  quite  certain  that,  with  justice  to  other  and  no  less 
important  branches  of  education,  nothing  more  than  the  rudiments 
of  science  and  art-teaching  can  be  introduced  into  elementary  schools ; 
and  we  must  seek  elsewhere  for  a  supplementary  training  in  these 
subjects,  which  may  go  on  after  the  workman's  life  has  begun.  .  .  . 
The  great  advantage  of  evening  technical  classes  is  that  they  bring 
the  means  of  instruction  to  the  doors  of  the  factories  and  work- 
shops."— Huxley. 

2* 


34  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 


r 


VI.    SCHOOL    HYGIENE. 

1.  "  The  laws  of  health,"  says  Dr.  Willard  Parker,  "  are 
the  laws  of  God,  and  are  as  binding  as  the  Decalogue." 
"  The  fact  is,"  says  Spencer,  "  that  all  breaches  of  the  laws 
of  health  are  physical  sins."     "  Nature's  discipline,"  says 
Huxley,  "  is  not  even  a  word  and  a  blow,  and  the  blow 
first ;  but  the  blow  without  the  word.     It  is  left  for  you 
to  find  out  why  your  ears  are  boxed." 

2.  No  education  is  worth  the  cost  if  gained  at  the  ex- 
pense of  health  and  cheerfulness,  or  under  the  penalty  of 
nervous  weaknesses,  dyspepsia,  or  near-sightedness. 

3.  A  sound  body  is  the  groundwork  of  sound  intellect- 
ual faculties.     A  morbid  condition  of  body  leads  to  dul- 
ness  of  mental  perceptions  and  weakness  of  the  intellectual 
faculties.     Excessive  or  premature  mental  development 
checks  the  growth  of  the  body ;  over-development  is  an- 
tagonistic to  growth. 

4.  "  The  physiological  motto  is,"  says  Dr.  E.  H.  Clarke, 
"  Educate  a  man  for  manhood,  a  woman  for  womanhood, 
both  for  humanity.     In  this  lies  the  hope  of  the  race." 
"  Get  health,"  says  Emerson,  "  for  sickness  is  a  cannibal 
which  eats  up  all  the  life  and  youth  it  can  lay  hold  of, 
and  absorbs  its  own  sons  and  daughters." 

5.  "  Mental  labor,  rightly  directed,"  says  Dr.  Lincoln,  of 
Boston,  "  is  a  most  healthful  occupation ;  and  there  is  no 
real  reason  why  this  should  not  be  true  at  all  periods  of 
school  life.     But  the  difference  between  forced  and  spon- 
taneous action  is  of  great  consequence  to  the  health  and 
mental  energy  of  the  child." 

6.  "At  college,"  says  Horace  Mann,  "I  was  taught  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  as  if  their  keeping  in  their 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING.  35 

orbits  depended  upon  my  knowing  them ;  while  I  was  in 
profound  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  health  of  my  own  body. 
The  rest  of  my  life  was,  in  consequence,  one  long  battle 
with  exhausted  energies,"  <H| 

SUGGESTIONS    TO    TEACHERS. 

1.  Children  under  ten  years  of  age  ought  to  have  no  les-  r 
sons  whatever  assigned  for  home  study.     Whatever  time  y 
they  can  spare  from  play  ought  to  be  spent  in  reading 
suitable  library  books.    Boys  and  girls  from  ten  to  twelve  ' 
years  of  age  ought  not  to  have  more  than  one  lesson  for 
home  study.     And  girls  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years 
of  age,  in  high-schools,  ought  not  to  study  more  than  one 
hour  a  day  out  of  school.     From  ten  to  sixteen  is  the 
golden  period  for  the  reading  of  good  books;  and  any 
course  of  school-work  that  deprives  pupils  of  time  to  read 
by  keeping  them  all  the  time  at  the  drudgery  of  text- 
book lessons  is  a  mental  wrong  and  a  physical  sin. 

2.  Do  not  exhaust  the  vitality  of  weak,  nervous,  brill- 
iant, ambitious  children  by  too  rapid  promotion.     Put  on 
the  brakes,  even  if  you  have  to  oppose  ambitious  and  igno- 
rant parents.     Of  what  use  is  it  to  let  them  gain  a  year 
in  school  and  lose  a  lifetime  ? 

3.  If  possible,  keep  your  schoolroom  well  ventilated ; 
but  do  not  run  to  the  foolish  extreme  of  subjecting  your 
pupils  to  strong  draughts  of  cold  or  damp  air  from  open 
windows.     In  winter,  regulate  the  temperature  by  a  ther- 
mometer. 

4.  Do  not  allow  children  to  sit  in  school  with  wet  feet 
or  damp  clothing.     Let  them  get  warm  and  dry  around 
the  stove  before  you  begin  work. 

5.  When  children  suffer  from  headaches,  send  them 


36  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

home.     They  cannot  think  well,  and  the  attempt  to  study 
leads  to  bad  mental  habits. 

6.  In  pleasant  weather,  compel  girls  as  well  as  boys  to 
go  out  of  doors  to  play  at  recesses  and  intermissions ;  and 
do  not  allow  them  to  take  their  books  with  them  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  when  they  ought  to  play. 

7.  By  means  of  window-shades,  carefully  attended  to 
during  the  day,  protect  the  eyes  of  your  pupils  from  ex- 
cessive light,  and  from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.     Cau- 
tion your  pupils  against  habits  of  holding  books  in  ways 
that  lead  to  near-sightedness. 

8.  Require  your  pupils  to  sit  erect  and  to  stand  erect, 
and  explain  to  them  the  reason  why  you  do  so. 

9.  Explain  why  loose  clothing  is  healthful,  and  tight 
clothing  is  harmful. 

10.  Tell  pupils  what  articles  of  diet  are,  in  general, 
wholesome ;  what,  in  general,  are  unwholesome. 

11.  Teach  them  that  it  is  better  to  prevent  sickness  by 
attention  to  the  laws  of  health  than  to  be  continually 
dosing  themselves  with  medicines. 

12.  Teach  them  the  importance  of  preserving  their  teeth 
and  of  chewing  their  food. 

13.  Charge  them  not  to  sit  up  late  at  night  to  study. 
The  more  active  the  mind,  the  greater  the  need  of  sleep. 
From  the  age  of  twelve  to  eighteen,  boys  and  girls  need 
from  eight  to  ten  hours  of  unbroken  sleep  every  night. 

14.  Impress  upon  them  the  fact  that  they  must  take 
care  of  their  bodies,  or  suffer  the  penalty  of  neglect  in  the 
form  of  sickness ;  that  suffering  is  sure  to  follow  trans- 
gression ;  and  that  nature  remits  no  punishments. 

15.  If  you  are  teaching  in  a  girls'  school,  read  Clarke's 
Sex  in  Education,  Clarke's  Building  of  a  Brain,  Miss 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING.  37 

Studley's  What  Girls  Ought  to  Know,  and  Miss  Brack- 
et t's  Education  of  American  Girls. 

VII.    RULES    OF    HEALTH    FOR    PUPILS. 

NOTE. — The  following  rules  are  given  as  a  model  for  additional 
ones.  The  teacher  can  make  each  direction  the  topic  for  a  short 
lesson  by  giving  the  reasons  for  it. 

1.  Ketire  early,  and  sleep  from  eight  to  ten  hours  every 
night.     The  harder  you  study,  the  more  sleep  you  need. 

2.  Exercise  in  the  open  air  and  sunshine  is  second  in 
importance  only  to  sleep. 

3.  Ventilate  your  sleeping-room  at  night  either  by  an 
open  door,  or  a  window  slightly  open  both  at  top  and  bot- 
tom. 

4.  Avoid  hot  cakes,  hot  bread,  strong  tea,  and  strong 
coffee.     In  hot  weather,  avoid  fat  meats.     Avoid  eating 
between  meals,  and  especially  beware  of  lunches  just  be- 
fore going  to  bed.     If  you  want  a  clear  head  for  good 
mental  work,  take  light  breakfasts.     Do  not  study  imme- 
diately after  a  hearty  meal.     If  possible,  avoid  studying 
before  breakfast. 

5.  Take  care  of  your  teeth;  you  need  them  both  for 
ornament  and  use. 

6.  Wear  loose  clothing,  and  loose-fitting  boots  and  shoes. 

7.  Keep  the  feet  warm  and  dry,  and  you  will  avoid  a 
great  many  colds  and  headaches.     In  cold  or  wet  weather 
wear  thick  boots  and  shoes. 

8.  Keep  the  whole  body  clean  by  bathing  according  to 
season  and  climate. 

9.  Do  not  study  out  of  school  more  than  from  one  to 
two  hours.     I^o  education  is  worth  getting  at  the  expense 
of  health. 


38  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

10.  Take  care  of  your  eyes.     When  they  ache,  stop 
reading  or  writing  at  once.     Any  abuse  of  the  eyes  is  sure 
to  be  followed  by  a  severe  penalty  in  later  life. 

11.  Avoid  cross  lights.     If  possible,  sit  so  that  the  light 
shall  fall  over  your  left  shoulder. 

12.  Never  sit  in  school  with  a  ray  of  sunshine  streaming 
into  your  face  or  upon  your  desk.     Ask  your  teacher  to 
lower  the  shade,  or  to  allow  you  to  change  your  seat. 

13.  When  you  read,  sit  erect,  and  hold  your  bock  up, 
not  flat  upon  the  desk. 

14.  Avoid  books  in  fine  print.     Do  not  read  at  twilight, 
nor  before  breakfast  by  lamplight  or  gaslight. 

15.  Unless  you  wish  to  ruin  your  eyes,  never  read  in 
bed. 

16.  Never  study  later  than  nine  o'clock  at  night.     Mil- 
ton, when  young,  used  to  sit  up  till  midnight;  result, 
blindness  in  old  age. 

17.  For  weak  eyes,  an  extra  hour's  sleep  every  night  is 
the  best  remedy. 

18.  Pain  in  the  eyes  is  often  caused  by  a  disordered 
stomach.     Be  careful  about  your  diet. 

19.  If  you  wish  to  avoid  being  near-sighted,  hold  your 
book  at  a  reasonable  distance  from  your  eyes  when  read- 
ing. 

20.  Do  not  wear  colored  glasses,  except  by  the  advice 
of  a  physician. 


MORAL   TRAINING. 


CHAPTER  III. 
MORAL    TRAINING. 

I.    GENERAL    REMARKS. 

INTELLECTUAL  development  is  the  most  prominent  ob- 
ject of  common-school  instruction ;  but  moral  training  is 
not  less  important,  though  its  results  are  not  so  immediate 
and  tangible.  "  The  vital  part  of  human  culture,"  says 
Russell,  "  is  not  that  which  makes  man  what  he  is  intel- 
lectually ;  but  that  which  makes  him  what  he  is  in  heart, 
life,  and  character." 

"  That  education,"  says  President  Chadbourne,  of  "Will- 
iams College,  "  which  does  not  make  prominent  justice  as 
well  as  benevolence,  law  as  well  as  liberty,  honesty  as  well 
as  thrift,  and  purity  of  life  as  well  as  enjoyment  should 
be  stamped,  by  every  true  educator,  as  a  waste  and  a  curse; 
for  so  it  will  prove  in  the  end." 

"  The  common-school,"  says  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  "  is  the 
place,  of  all  others,  to  inculcate  the  ^reat  industrial,  social, 
and  civic  virtues  of  honesty,  chastity,  "truthfulness,  justice, 
responsibility  for  social  order;  &lHhe  moral^afeguafds 
national  life." 

What  we  term  moral  culture,  which  concerns  the  feel- 
ings, the  emotions,  the  will,  the  conscience,  must  always 
be,  to  some  extent,  the  result  of  the  teacher's  indirect  tui- 
tion of  manner,  character,  and  example.  Lessons  in  arith- 
metic, grammar,  and  geography  may  be  given  by  formal 


jss,  justice, 
eeuards  of 


40  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

methods,  or  may  be  learned  from  text-books;  but  good 
moral  training  is  of  a  higher  and  more  complex  character. 
"  Creeds  pasted  upon  the  memory,"  says  Spencer,  "  good 
principles  learned  by  rote,  lessons  in  right  and  wrong,  will 
not  eradicate  vicious  propensities,  though  people,  in  spite 
of  their  experience  as  parents  and  as  citizens,  persist  in 
hoping  they  will."  [j?  The  difficulties  of  moral  teaching," 
says  Bain,  "  exceed  in  every  way  the  difficulties  of  intel- 
lectual teaching/^  In  the  child's  moral  nature,  sympathy 
is  the  ruling  impulse,  and  influence  the  controlling  power. 
The  teacher  must  be  a  trusted  and  affectionate  guide,  not 
a  bundle  of  philosophical  ethics. 

It  is  true  the  child's  moral  tendencies  are  largely  the  re- 
sult of  home  influences  or  of  hereditary  transmission ; 
nevertheless,  the  school  cannot  shirk  its  appropriate  share 
of  responsibility. 

IL    THE    SPHERE    OF    SCHOOL. 

Unfavorable  home  influences  must  be  counteracted  as 
far  as  possible  at  school,  and  the  moral  faculties  must  be 
called  into  daily  exercise  until  habits  of  right-thinking 
result  in  habits  of  right-doing.  The  strict  discipline  of 
school  is  in  itself  a  powerful  means  of  moral  culture. 
Pupils  are  trained  to  habits  of  order,  regularity,  punctual- 
ity, industry,  truthfulness,  obedience,  regard  for  the  rights 
of  others,  and  a  general  sense  of  justice.  The  influence 
of  school,  continued  for  a  series  of  years,  in  these  respects, 
is  very  powerful  in  the  formation  of  habit  and  character. 

But  beyond  these  incidental  and  indirect  results,  what 
is  it  possible  to  accomplish  in  the  way  of  moral  develop- 
ment? In  the  past,  moral  training  was  very  generally 
confounded  with  religious  instruction  ;  and  some  still  hold 


MORAL   TRAINING.  41 

that  there  can  be  no  moral  culture  not  based  on  specific 
religious  instruction  or  sectarian  faith.  In  our  public 
schools,  purely  secular  instruction  is  the  rule,  both  by  law 
and  custom ;  religious  exercises  the  exception.  For  the 
purpose  of  practical  consideration,  then,  we  may  remand 
religious  teaching  to  the  home,  the  Sunday-school,  and  the 
Church. 

The  reading  of  the  Bible,  still  required  in  some  schools 
as  a  formal  morning  exercise,  may  or  may  not  be  an  aid 
in  moral  training,  according  to  the  manner  and  spirit  in 
which  the  exercise  is  conducted.  The  same  holds  true  of 
morning  or  evening  school  prayers.  Unless  marked  by 
earnestness  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  and  attentive  rev- 
erence by  pupils,  it  is  better  to  omit  them.  With  regard 
to  such  devotional  exercises,  considered  by  many  to  be  on 
the  border-line  of  religious  instruction,  teachers  must  be 
guided  by  local  custom  and  regulations ;  but  they  should 
bear  in  mind  that  there  is  a  growing  tendency  to  make 
the  public  schools  purely  secular;  that  the  present  is  an 
age  of  the  broadest  personal  liberty  in  respect  to  religious 
belief;  and  that  they  must  manifest  in  school  a  tolerant 
regard  for  the  conscientious  scruples  as  well  as  the  legal 
rights  of  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  Catholic  and  Protestant, 
Liberal  and  Churchman. 

"  It  is  not  merely  by  hearing  the  Bible  read,"  says  Pro- 
fessor George  W.  Minns,  "  or  by  learning  Bible  lessons  or 
theological  dogmas,  or  by  any  forms  or  ceremonies,  that 
the  religious  spirit  cometh.  All  these,  at  their  best,  are 
only  means  to  an  end ;  they  are  not  the  end  itself,  and 
they  often  defeat  it.  Motives  are  the  springs  of  all  actions. 
We  judge  of  a  man's  conduct  by  his  motives ;  the  spirit 
with  which  a  man  works,  the  motives  which  prompt  his  con- 


42  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

duct — these  show  and  constitute  the  man,  and  these  are 
moral  qualities  springing  from  and  dwelling  in  the  heart." 

Professor  Bain,  in  his  late  work,  Education  as  a  Sci- 
ence, thus  clearly  draws  the  following  dividing  line : 
JT  "Morality  is  not  religion,  and  religion  is  not  morality; 
"~and  yet  the  two  have  points  of  coincidence.  Morality 
cannot  be  the  same  thing  without  religion  as  with  it ;  re- 
ligion, working  in  its  own  sphere,  does  not  make  full  pro- 
vision for  all.  the  moral  exigencies  of  human  life.  The 
precepts  of  morality  must  be  chiefly  grounded  on  our  hu- 
man relations  in  this  world  as  known  by  practical  experi- 
ence ;  the  motives,  too,  grow  very  largely  out  of  those  re- 
lations. Religion  has  precepts  of  its  own,  and  these  are  all 
the  more  effectively  worked  when  worked  in  separation. "***? 

"  I  wish  to  be  distinctly  understood,"  says  W.  T.  Harris, 
"as  claiming  only  that  public-school  education  is  moral, 
and  completely  so,  on  its  own  basis ;  that  it  lays  the  basis 
for  religion,  but  is  no  substitute  for  religion.  It  is  not  a 
substitute  for  the  State  because  it  teaches  justice ;  it  only 
prepares  an  indispensable  culture  for  the  citizen  of  the 
State.  The  State  must  exist ;  religion  must  exist,  and 
complement  the  structure  of  human  culture  begun  in 
moral  education." 

III.    POSSIBILITIES    AND    CONDITIONS. 

Leaving  out  of  consideration  all  religious  forms  and 
observances  in  school,  what  is  it  possible  to  accomplish  in 
the  way  of  moral  training  f  There  are  some  who  think 
nothing  can  be  done  if  distinctive  religious  instruction  is 
omitted,  and  that  moral  training  must  necessarily  be  dis- 
regarded ;  but  this,  in  the  words  of  Huxley,  "  is  burning 
the  ship  to  get  rid  of  the  cockroaches." 


MORAL   TRAINING.  43 

If  moral  training  consisted  merely  in  telling  children 
what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong,  and  in  dealing  out  ethi- 
cal maxims  and  proverbs ;  if  it  were  enough  to  tell  chil- 
dren it  is  wicked  to  lie,  steal,  or  swear ;  if  it  would  make 
boys  truthful  and  honest  to  learn  commandments  by  rote 
— then  the  teacher's  task  would  be  an  easy  one.  "Did 
you  ever  give  a  lesson  on  honesty  ?"  asked  Horace  Mann 
of  a  teacher  in  England.  "  Oh  no,"  was  the  ready  reply, 
"  that  isn't  necessary ;  they  have  the  commandment  in 
the  catechism,  you  know." 

But  the  fact  that  true  moral  development  depends  on 
complex  conditions  is  no  reason  why  the  whole  matter 
should  be  practically  ignored,  as  seems  to  be  the  case  in 
some  schools. 

Moral  development  depends  partly  on  the  clearness- of 
the  intellectual  faculties,  and  partly  upon  physical  condi- 
tions ;  partly  on  hereditary  traits,  and  partly  on  education- 
al bias.  It  is  influenced  by  the  pupil's  associates,  home 
discipline,  by  school  government,  and  by  religious  instruc- 
tion in  the  family,  the  Church,  and  the  Sunday-school. 

There  can  be  no  sound  moral  character  not  based  upon 
a  sound  understanding  capable  of  forming  correct  judg- 
ments upon  thoughts  and  acts.  Emotions,  appetites,  pas- 
sions, and  will  must  be  under  the  control  of  intelligent 
mental  perceptions.  Sound  health  is  an  important  factor. 
^  Every  man  is  a  rascal  as  soon  as  he  is  sick,"  says  Dr. 
Johnson^]  As  the  child  should  be  made  to  feel,  in  physical 
training,  that  every  vjolation  of  the  laws  of  health  is  vis- 
ited by  swift  and  inevitable  punishment,  so  in  moral  train- 
ing the  central  idea  should  be  to  make  the  child  realize 
the  natural  penalty  upon  himself  of  every  violation  of  the 
law  of  right. 


44  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

"  The  tendency  of  each  new  generation,"  says  Spencer, 
"  to  develop  itself  wrongly  indicates  the  degree  of  modi- 
fication that  has  yet  to  take  place.  Those  respects  in 
which  a  child  requires  restraint  are  just  the  respects  in 
which  he  is  taking  after  the  aboriginal  man.  The  selfish 
squabbles  of  the  nursery,  the  persecutions  of  the  play- 
ground, the  lyings  and  petty  thefts,  the  rough  treatment 
of  inferior  creatures,  the  propensity  to  destroy — all  these 
imply  that  tendency  to  pursue  self-gratification  at  the  ex- 
pense of  other  beings  which  qualified  man  for  the  wilder- 
ness, and  which  disqualifies  him  for  civilized  life." 

IV.    GENERAL    DIRECTIONS    FROM    HERBERT    SPENCER. 

1.  "There  are  in  all  children  tendencies  to  good  feel- 
ings  and  actions,  and   also  tendencies  and  impulses  to 
wrong-doing.     These  tendencies,  whether  good  or  bad, 
are  the  result  of  hereditary  transmission  and  of  surround- 
ing circumstances." 

2.  "  Do  riot  expect  from  children  any  great  amount  of 
moral  goodness." 

3.  "Do  not  attempt  to  force  young  children  into  pre- 
cocious moral  goodness.     Be  content  with  moderate  meas- 
ures and  moderate  results." 

4.  "  Bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  a  higher  morality,  like 
a  higher  intelligence,  must  be  reached  by  a  slow  growth." 

5.  "  Leave  children,  whenever  you  can,  to  the  discipline 
of  experience." 

6.  "Be  sparing  of  commands;  but  whenever  you  do 
command,  command  with  decision  and  firmness." 

7.  "Let  your  penalties  be  like  the  penalties  inflicted  by 
inanimate  nature — inevitable." 

8.  "  The  aim  of  your  discipline  should  be  to  produce  a 


MOKAL   TRAINING.  45 

self-governing  being,  not  to  produce  a  being  to  be  govern- 
ed by  others." 

9.  "  Do  not  regret  the  exhibition  of  considerable  self- 
will  on  the  part  of  children.     The  independent  boy  is  the 
father  of  the  independent  man." 

10.  "  Always  remember  that  to  educate  rightly  is  not  a 
simple  and  easy  thing;   but  a  complex  and  extremely 
difficult  thing,  the  hardest  task  that  devolves  upon  adult 

life."  "7 

V.    PRACTICAL    HINTS. 

Methods  of  conducting  moral  lessons  in  school  must  be 
gathered  up  by  experience  and  observation.  They  cannot 
be  stated  like  rules  of  syntax  or  mathematical  demonstra- 
tions. A  warm  heart,  a  genial  nature,  an  even  temper,  a 
beaming  eye,  a  cheerful  countenance,  a  sincere  voice,  an 
earnest  manner — these  are  the  potential  agencies  by  which 
you  can  win,  direct,  and  control  your  pupils. 

1.  The  Emotions. — Keep  fresh  in  mind  your  own  feel- 
ings, passions,  emotions,  impulses,  sympathies,  and  experi- 
ences when  a  child,  and  you  will  avoid  the  grievous  mis- 
take of  applying  to  school  children  the  moral  philosophy 
suited  only  to  adult  metaphysicians.  "Put  yourself  in 
the  place  of  your  pupils"  is  a  good  motto.  "We  might 
as  well  expect  children,"  says  Rousseau,  "  to  be  ten  feet 
high  as  to  have  judgment  in  their  tenth  year."  "  Youn^ 
children,"  says  Pestalozzi,  "  cannot  be  governed  by  appeals 
to  conscience,  because  it  is  not  yet  developed.  Sympathy 
must  be  gradually  superseded  by  the  rule  of  right,  and 
children  must  be  led  from  good  feelings  to  right  princi- 
ples." 

The  opinions  of  children  are  influenced,  not  so  much  by 
reason  as  by  emotion — their  likes  and  dislikes.  "The 


46  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

education  of  the  child,"  says  Bishop  Jebb,  "  is  principally 
derived  from  its  own  observation  of  the  actions,  the  words, 
the  voice,  the  looks,  of  those  with  whom  it  lives." 

"What  children  see  constantly  done  by  those  whom 
they  respect  and  love,"  says  the  famous  German  educator 
Niemeyer,  "  they  very  soon  come  to  think  is  what  ought 
to  be  done.  Thus  it  is  that  the  manners  and  morals  of 
nations,  as  well  as  of  smaller  societies  and  of  families,  are 
perpetuated." 

"  Whatever  moral  benefit  can  be  effected  by  education," 
says  Herbert  Spencer,  "  must  be  effected  by  an  education 
that  is  emotional  rather  than  perceptive.  If,  in  place  of 
making  a  child  understand  that  this  thing  is  right  and 
the  other  wrong,  you  make  it  feel  that  they  are  so ;  if 
you  make  virtue  loved  and  vice  loathed ;  if  you  arouse 
a  noble  desire  and  make  torpid  an  inferior  one;  if  you 
bring  into  life  a  previously  dormant  sentiment  /  if  you 
cause  a  sympathetic  impulse  to  get  the  better  of  one  that 
is  selfish ;  if,  in  short,  you  produce  a  state  of  mind  to 
which  proper  behavior  is  natural,  spontaneous,  instinctive 
—you  do  some  good.  But  no  drilling  in  catechisms,  no 
teaching  of  moral  codes,  can  effect  this.  Mere  ideas  re- 
ceived by  the  intellect,  meeting  no  response  from  within, 
are  quite  inoperative  upon  conduct,  and  are  quickly  for- 
gotten upon  entering  into  life." 

2.  Doing. — Children  must  not  only  be  taught  what  is 
right,  they  must  also  be  made  to  do  what  is  right.  The 
school  is  a  miniature  world.  In  one  way  or  another  it 
affords  opportunities  for  the  practice  of  most  of  the  moral 
virtues.  Strict  discipline  trains  pupils  to  habits  of  obedi- 
ence and  order,  corrects  bad  habits,  and  compels  the  law- 
less to  respect  the  rights  of  others.  It  is  possible  for  the 


MOKAL   TRAINING.  47 

teacher  to  breathe  into  a  school  a  spirit  of  honor,  truthful- 
ness, and  honesty  that  shall  control  every  new  scholar  that 
comes  under  its  influence.  This  spirit  will  put  down  pro- 
fanity, vulgarity,  slang,  slander,  tattling,  lying,  and  mean- 
ness generally. 

"  Character  is  formed,"  says  Dunning,  "  by  training 
rather  than  by  teaching.  A  teacher  cannot  lecture  a 
child  into  good  manners,  nor  change  habits  of  any  kind 
by  the  longest  speech.  Habits  are  changed  only  by  a  rep- 
etition of  doings,  and  it  is  in  these  doings  that  training 
consists." 

3.  Specific  Topics. — It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  a  regu- 
lar time,  as  Monday  morning  or  Friday  afternoon,  for 
a  lesson  on  some  topic,  such  as  honor,  honesty,  truthful- 
ness, etc.,  given  out  to  pupils  a  week  in   advance,  for 
them  to  think  about.     The  subject  taken   up  may  be 
discussed  and  illustrated  by  anecdotes,  incidents,  stories, 
fables,  poetry,  or  historical  facts.      Gow's  Morals  and 
Manners   and   Cowdery's   Moral  Lessons  will   aid   the 
teacher  in  giving  such  lessons.     But  such  lessons  must 
be  conducted  with  great  skill,  in   order  to  be  produc- 
tive of  good  results.     Bain,  in  his  Education  as  a  Sci- 
ence, says, 

"  For  boys  and  girls  above  twelve,  we  may,  as  a  rule, 
pronounce  that  moral  lecturing,  except  in  actual  discipline, 
is  misplaced;  and  only  a  very  roundabout  approach  to 
the  subject  can  be  borne.  In  the  higher  schools  and  uni- 
versities, direct  moral  teaching  is,  by  common  consent, 
disused  as  part  of  the  ordinary  class-work." 

4.  Stories. — One  of  the  most  effective  ways  of  giving 
moral  lessons  is  through  the  medium  of  well  -  selected 
stories.     "A  moral  lesson,"  says  Bain,  "may  be  wrapped 


48  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

up  in  a  tale  and  brought  home  with  an  impetus.  Stories 
of  great  and  noble  deeds  have  fired  more  youthful  hearts 
with  enthusiasm  than  sermons  have."  "  To  hear  about 
good  men,"  says  Richter,  "is  equivalent  to  living  among 
them.  For  children,  there  is  absolutely  no  other  morality 
than  example,  either  seen  or  narrated."  "When  you  read 
a  story  or  fable,  let  your  pupils  draw  their  own  inferences 
and  do  their  own  moralizing.  It  is  not  best  for  you  to 
spoil  the  effect  by  drawing  conclusions. 

Every  teacher  should  keep  a  scrap-book  for  storing  up 
material  gleaned  from  the  newspapers  for  these  lessons. 
Miss  Alcott's  Stories  are  good  hand-books  for  the  teacher's 
desk.  If  there  is  a  school  library,  make  good  use  of  it  by 
calling  the  special  attention  of  pupils  to  the  biographies 
and  story-books  that  you  think  fitted  to  become  your  as- 
sistants in  morals  and  manners.  Tyndall  says  he  was  made 
a  scientist  by  reading  Emerson  and  Carlyle.  The  golden 
grains  of  thought  gleaned  from  good  books  will  spring 
up  in  the  youthful  mind  and  yield  a  rich  harvest  of  no- 
ble sympathies  and  right  emotions.  "  Let  a  child  read 
and  understand,"  says  Horace  Mann,  "such  stories  as  the 
friendship  of  Damon  and  Pythias,  the  integrity  of  Aris- 
tides,  the  fidelity  of  Regulus,  the  purity  of  Washington, 
the  invincible  perseverance  of  Franklin,  and  he  will  think 
differently  and  act  differently  all  the  days  of  his  remain- 
ing life."  "A  large  part  of  the  tactics  of  the  teacher," 
says  Bain,  "is  determined  by  the  natural  repugnance  of 
human  nature  to  the  whole  subject.  Pupils  would  much 
rather  be  instructed  in  knowledge  than  be  lectured  on  vir- 
tue ;  while,  as  regards  knowledge,  want  of  liking  is  not  so 
fatal  to  the  end.  The  use  of  the  fable,  the  parable,  the 
example,  is  evidently  meant  to  avoid  direct  lecturing, 


MORAL    TEAINING.  49 

and  to  reach  the  mind  by  insinuation  and  circumven- 
tion." 

In  urging  this  point  upon  the  attention,  Professor 
Minns  remarks,  "  The  lives  of  men  deserving  the  name 
of  great  and  good ;  every  instance  of  self-sacrifice  in  the 
cause  of  justice,  truth,  country,  or  humanity  ;  every  noble 
utterance  of  poet  or  preacher  or  orator;  everything  in 
nature  and  art  that  appeals  to  our  best  and  highest  feel- 
ings and  i  touches  the  heart  to  finer  issues ;'  every  act  of 
kindness,  of  charity,  of  sympathy — will  feed  the  soul  with 
pure  and  generous  and  lofty  thoughts,  will  lift  it  into  a 
serener  and  diviner  air,  will  place  Deity  upon  his  lawful 
throne,  will  broaden  and  deepen  the  sentiment  of  love  to 
God  and  man  until  it  shall  come  to  be  a  well-spring  of 
everlasting  joy  in  the  heart,  and  will  bring  nearer  the 
day  when  all  mankind  shall  become  brothers — the  chil- 
dren of  one  Heavenly  Father." 

5.  Time  and  Place. — Advise,  correct,  and  discipline  at 
the  right  time  and  in  the  right  way.  The  events  of  a 
school-week  will  often  furnish  practical  illustrations  for  a 
short  but  effective  talk  to  the  pupils  on  manners  or  mor- 
als. Omit  no  fitting  occasion  to  impress  a  principle  upon 
the  moral  feelings.  Whether  an  offender  is  to  be  reproved 
publicly  or  in  private,  you  must  determine.  "  A  few  words 
of  earnest  advice  or  remonstrance,"  says  Quick,  "  which  a 
boy  hears  at  the  right  time  from  a  man  whom  he  respects 
may  affect  that  boy's  character  for  life.  Here  everything 
depends,  not  on  the  words  used,  but  on  the  feeling  with 
which  they  are  spoken,  and  on  the  way  in  which  the 
speaker  is  regarded  by  the  hearer." 

"  Do  but  gain  a  boy's  trust,"  says  Spencer ;  "  convince 
him  by  your  behavior  that  you  have  his  happiness  at 

3 


50  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

heart ;  let  him  discover  that  you  are  the  wiser  of  the  two ; 
let  him  experience  the  benefits  of  following  your  advice, 
and  the  evils  that  arise  from  disregarding  it;  and  fear 
not ;  you  will  readily  enough  guide  him.  Not  by  author- 
ity is  your  sway  to  be  obtained ;  neither  by  reasoning; 
but  by  inducement" 

Joshua  Bates,  Master  of  the  Brimmer  School,  Boston, 
for  thirty-three  years,  remarked,  at  the  close  of  his  school- 
teaching, 

"  There  is  no  part  of  my  professional  career  that  I  look 
back  upon  with  more  pleasure  and  satisfaction  than  the 
practice  I  always  pursued  in  giving,  each  Saturday  morn- 
ing, familiar  talks  on  such  subjects  as  would  conduce  to 
make  my  pupils  happier  and  better  men.  I  have  been 
more  fully  assured  of  the  benefit  resulting  to  many  of 
my  pupils  from  letters  received,  and  conversations  I  have 
had  with  past  members  of  the  school,  who  uniformly 
write  or  say, '  Much  of  what  I  studied  in  school  is  forgot- 
ten ;  but  the  words  then  spoken  are  treasured  and  remem- 
bered, and  they  have  influenced,  and  ever  will  influence, 
me  while  life  lasts.' " 

The  true  teacher  will  keep  steadily  in  mind  the  fact 
that  character  outweighs  mere  intellect ;  that  high  percent- 
ages in  examinations  are  but  as  dust  in  the  balance  com- 
pared with  the  moral  qualities  that  constitute  manhood 
and  womanhood.  Prince  Albert,  when  drawing  up  the 
.conditions  of  the  annual  prize  to  be  given  by  the  Queen 
at  Wellington  College,  determined  that  it  should  be  award- 
ed, not  to  the  cleverest  boy,  nor  to  the  most  bookish  boy, 
nor  to  the  most  precise,  diligent,  and  prudent  boy ;  but  to 
the  noblest  boy — to  the  boy  who  should  show  the  most 
promise  of  becoming  a  large-hearted,  high-minded  man. 


MOKAL   TRAINING.  51 

Character  ought  to  rank  in  school,  as  in  society,  above  all 
attainments  of  the  intellect  or  accomplishments  of  art.  A 
just,  upright,  truthful,  pure,  and  magnanimous  character, 
guided  by  principle  and  inspired  by  good-will  to  all,  is 
worth  all  the  learning  in  the  world. 

6.  Books  and  Reading. — If  there  is  no  school  library, 
advise  your  pupils  what  books  to  draw  from  the  public 
libraries,  if  they  have  access  to  any;  and,  if  not,  what 
books  to  buy  for  themselves  when  they  have  any  money 
to  buy  with.     See  to  it  that  they  do  not  poison  them- 
selves with  sensational  and  trashy  stories  and  novels,  the 
blood-and-tlmnder  tales  of  which  too  many  boys  are  fond, 
and  the  sentimental  love-stories  devoured  by  too  many 
girls. 

7.  The  Main  Thing. — There  are  no  keener  critics  upon 
sham  character  and  moral  pretence  than  children.     "  The 
divine  method  of  moral  instruction  in'  a  common-school," 
says  Mayo,  "  is  that  a  cultivated  and  consecrated  man  or 
woman  should  rise  upon  it  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  lead  it  through  light  and  shadow,  breeze  and 
calm,  tempest  and  tranquillity,  to  the  end.     All  special 
methods  flow  out  of  him,  as  the  hours  of  the  day  mark 
the  course  of  the  sun  through  the  vault  of  heaven." 

The  moral  power  of  the  teacher  will  be  measured  large- 
ly by  his  own  reserved  forces  of  character  and  life,  and 
this  central  idea  has  been  so  fully  and  eloquently  set  forth 
by  Rev.  F.  D.  Huntington,  in  his  classic  paper  on  Uncon- 
scious Tuition,  that  I  conclude  this  chapter  in  his  words : 

"My  main  propositions  are  these  three:  1st. That  there 
is  an  educating  power  issuing  from  the  teacher,  not  by 
voice  nor  by  immediate  design,  but  silent  and  involuntary, 
as  indispensable  to  his  true  function  as  any  element  in  it. 


52  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

2d.  That  this  unconscious  tuition  is  jet  no  product  of  ca- 
price, nor  of  accident,  but  takes  its  quality  from  the  un- 
dermost substance  of  the  teacher's  character.  And  3d. 
That  as  it  is  an  emanation  flowing  from  the  very  spirit  of 
his  own  life,  so  it  is  also  an  influence  acting  insensibly  to 
form  the  life  of  the  scholar.  .  .  . 

"  We  are  taught,  and  we  teach,  by  something  about  us 
that  never  goes  into  language  at  all.  I  believe  that  often 
this  is  the  very  highest  kind  of  teaching,  most  charged 
with  moral  power,  most  apt  to  go  down  among  the  secret 
springs  of  conduct,  most  effectual  for  vital  issues,  for  the 
very  reason  that  it  is  spiritual  in  its  character,  noiseless  in 
its  pretensions,  and  constant  in  its  operation.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  time,  then,  to  pronounce  more  distinctly  a  fixed 
connection  between  a  teacher's  unconscious  tuition  and 
the  foregoing  discipline  of  his  life.  What  he  is  to  im- 
part, at  least  by  this  delicate  and  sacred  medium,  he  must 
be.  *  No  admittance  for  shams '  is  stamped  on  that  sanc- 
tuary's door.  Nothing  can  come  out  that  has  not  gone 
in.  The  measure  of  real  influence  is  the  measure  of  gen- 
uine personal  substance.  How  much  patient  toil  in  ob- 
scurity, so  much  triumph  in  an  emergency.  The  moral 
balance  never  lets  us  overdraw.  If  we  expect  our  drafts 
to  be  honored  in  a  crisis,  there  must  have  been  the  depos- 
its of  a  punctual  life.  To-day's  simplest  dealing  with  a 
raw  or  refractory  pupil  takes  its  insensible  coloring  from 
the  moral  climate  you  have  all  along  been  breathing. 
Celestial  opportunities  avail  us  nothing  unless  we  have 
ourselves  been  educated  up  to  their  level.  If  an  angel 
come  to  converse  with  us  on  the  mountain-top,  he  must 
find  our  tent  already  pitched  in  that  upper  air.  Each 
day  recites  a  lesson  for  which  all  preceding  days  were  a 


MORAL   TRAINING.  53 

preparation.  Our  real  rank  is  determined,  not  by  lucky 
answers  or  some  brilliant  impromptu,  but  by  the  uniform 
diligence.  For  the  exhibition-days  of  Providence  there 
is  no  preconcerted  colloquy  —  no  hasty  retrieving  of  a 
wasted  term  by  a  stealthy  study  on  the  eve  of  the  exam- 
ination." 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING. 

PHYSICAL  culture  is  important,  moral  training  is  essen- 
tial; but,  by  common  consent  and  practice,  intellectual  de- 
velopment is  made  the  leading  object  of  the  common- 
school.  As  succeeding  chapters  of  this  book  relate  main- 
ly to  methods  of  intellectual  training,  this  branch  of  the 
subject  is  here  dismissed  with  a  few  brief  allusions  to  the 
classification  of  the  mental  faculties,  which  seem  to  be 
necessary,  in  order  that  the  directions,  hints,  and  sugges- 
tions hereafter  given  may  be  made  more  clearly  compre- 
hensible. It  is  not  necessary  that  every  teacher  should  be 
a  metaphysician ;  but  it  is  desirable  to  know  the  elements 
of  mental  philosophy.  The  teacher  ought  to  know,  not 
what  may  be  successful,  after  experiment,  but  what  must 
be  successful  because  based  on  the  laws  of  nature. 

I.   CLASSIFICATION    OF    THE    INTELLECTUAL    FACULTIES. 

The  classification  of  the  intellectual  faculties  which  fol- 
lows is,  in  the  main,  that  of  Professor  William  Russell.* 
I  have  adopted  this,  partly  on  account  of  its  clearness, 
and  partly  from  the  partiality  which  a  pupil  feels  for  the 
work  of  his  former  teacher. 

The  three  main  divisions  of  the  intellectual  faculties 

*  Russell's  Normal  Training. 


INTELLECTUAL   TRAINING.  55 

are  (1)  the  perceptive,  (2)  the  expressive,  (3)  the  reflective. 
In  education  all  these  groups  of  powers  are  exerted,  to 
some  extent,  simultaneously ;  but  with  very  different  de- 
grees of  relative  activity  and  strength  in  the  successive 
stages  of  school  life.  In  the  beginning,  the  perceptive 
faculties  are  most  active;  then  the  expressive  faculties 
come  into  freer  play ;  and,  finally,  the  reflective  or  reason- 
ing powers  are  developed  by  slow  degrees. 

II.    THE    PERCEPTIVE    FACULTIES. 

The  modes  of  action  of  these  faculties  are  sensation, 
perception,  attention,  and  observation ;  their  impelling 
force  is  curiosity,  and  the  result  of  their  action  is  knowl- 
edge. These  faculties  are  exceedingly  active  in  childhood ; 
hence,  in  the  order  of  nature,  the  first  years  of  the  child 
in  school  should  be  mainly  devoted  to  such  things  as  will 
best  secure  perceptive  development.  These  processes  con- 
sist of  object-lessons ;  of  exercises  in  color,  form,  measure ; 
of  writing  and  drawing ;  of  reading  and  speech ;  of  the 
elements  of  natural  science ;  and,  in  general,  of  exercises 
in  observation  which  include  examination,  analysis,  inspec- 
tion, comparison,  discrimination,  and  classification,  begun 
and  carried  on  to  a  limited  extent.  "Mind,"  says  Bain, 
"starts  from  discrimination.  Our  intelligence  is  abso- 
lutely limited  by  our  power  of  discrimination." 

"Analysis"  says  Kussell,  "is  the  grand  instrument  in 
all  the  operations  of  the  perceptive  faculties ;  and  of  all 
the  implements  of  science,  it  is  the  keenest  in  its  edge, 
the  truest  in  its  action,  and  the  surest  in  the  results  which 
it  attains.  It  is  the  key  to  knowledge  in  all  departments 
of  intelligence."  •«— 

Principles  in  Training.  —V " Sensations"  says  Payne, 


56  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

"constitute  the  elements   of  knowledge,  and  sensations 
grow  into  ideas  ^J 

{^Knowledge,  with  children,"  says  Russell,  "  is  what  they 
have  experienced  in  their  own  intellect,  by  means  of  their 
own  observation ;  in  other  words,  it  is  the  accurate  inter- 
pretation of  the  facts  of  sense  in  matters  usually  of  color, 
form,  number,  weight,  or  sound,  and  the  relations  these 
bear  to  one  another.^^ 

Pestalozzi  says,  "  If  I  look  back  and  ask  myself  what  I 
have  really  done  towards  the  improvement  of  elementary 
instruction,  I  find  that,  in  recognizing  observation  as  the 
absolute  basis  of  all  knowledge,  I  have  established  the 
first  and  most  important  principle  of  instruction."  The 
distinguished  German  educator  Niemeyer  says,  "What 
is  perceived  by  the  senses  is  fixed  in  the  mind  more  firm- 
ly than  what  is  merely  said  over  even  a  hundred  times. 
It  is  not  the  shadows  of  things,  but  things  themselves, 
which  should  be  presented  to  youth." 

In  order  to  train  pupils  to  habits  of  observation,  the 
teacher  must  make  every  effort  to  secure  the  fixed  atten- 
tion of  every  pupil  in  the  class  to  whatever  is  inspected, 
to  whatever  is  done,  and  to  whatever  is  said.  The  main 
instrument  in  securing  an  attentive  examination  of  things 
is  by  means  of  skilful  questioning.  "  The  faculty  of  per- 
ception," says  Niemeyer,  "  united  with  the  endeavor  to  at- 
tain clear  consciousness  of  the  ideas  received  by  means  of 
exerted  attention,  is  the  life  of  thought ;  without  it,  all 
teaching,  all  machinery  for  communicating  ideas  to  the 
young,  are  useless.  They  may  have  ears  and  all  the  oth- 
er organs  of  sense,  but  they  will  neither  hear,  nor  see,  nor 
perceive ;  for  they  will  pay  no  attention" 

It  is  easier  to  secure  the  attention  of  young  children  to 


INTELLECTUAL   TRAINING.  57 

actual  things  than  to  spoken  descriptions  of  things ;  hence 
the  value  of  object-lessons  as  a  means  of  instruction. 
Things  are  learned  more  quickly  and  accurately  through 
the  eye  than  through  the  ear.  Without  the  object,  the 
teacher  may  spend  a  long  time  in  endeavoring  to  convey 
to  a  class,  through  the  ear  by  description,  an  idea  of  what 
may  be  understood  at  a  glance  of  the  eye ;  and,  after  all 
his  pains,  he  may  give  his  pupils  the  wrong  idea. 

Kindergarten  training  is  admirably  adapted  to  call  the 
perceptive  faculties  into  appropriate  exercise,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  it  calls  into  play  the  expressive  faculties.  The 
careful  study  of  a  Kindergarten  manual,  together  with  a 
few  visits  to  a  Kindergarten  school,  will  supply  every 
young  teacher  with  ideas  upon  which  to  build  a  rational 
system  of  primary  teaching.  "  Froebel,"  says  Emily  Shir- 
reff,  "  makes  discipline  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  facul- 
ties his  direct  aim.  He  cares  more  for  the  habit  of  ob- 
serving than  for  the  matter  of  the  observation ;  more  for 
the  correctness  of  the  reasoning  than  for  the  subject  on 
which  it  is  exercised  ;  more  for  strict  accuracy  of  thought 
and  expression  than  for  the  amount  of  knowledge." 

In  order  to  secure  the  best  possible  results  in  training 
young  children  to  habits  of  attention  and  observation, 
there  must  be  a  frequent  transition  from  one  subject  to 
another,  and  the  hours  of  school  confinement  must  not  be 
too  long.  For  children  under  eight  years  of  age,  the 
school -day  ought  not  to  exceed  four  hours,  and  those 
hours  should  be  broken  by  two  twenty-minute  recesses. 
As  to  the  limit  of  time  in  fixing  the  attention,  the  follow-- 
ing  is  an  approximate  statement :  A  child  from  five  to 
seven  years  of  age  may  be  able  to  give  unflagging  atten- 
tion to  one  lesson  or  subject  for  from  ten  to  fifteen  min- 

3* 


58  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

utes;  from  seven  to  ten  years  of  age,  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  minutes;  from  ten  to  twelve  years  of  age,  from 
twenty  to  thirty  minutes ;  from  twelve  to  sixteen  years  of 
age,  from  thirty  to  forty  minutes. 

It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  the  irrevocable  law  of  nature, 
that  work  in  excess  of  the  power  of  the  system  adds  noth- 
ing to  the  result  achieved. 

*-^ 

III.   THE    EXPRESSIVE    FACULTIES. 

The  modes  of  action  of  these  faculties  are  emotion,  im- 
agination, fancy,  imitation,  personation,  representation, 
language,  and  taste ;  their"  impelling  force  \$  feeling  ;  and 
the  result  of  their  action  is  communication.  The  educa- 
tional processes  consist  of  exercises  in  language — words, 
reading,  grammar ;  of  practice  in  oral  speech  and  written 
expression  ;  of  studies  in  natural  science  and  art. 

Principles  in  Training. — The  first  impulse  of  the  child, 
on  making  some  discovery  by  means  of  the  senses,  is  to  ex- 
press its  surprise  or  satisfaction  to  others.  Speech,  in  its 
early  stages,  is  almost  unconsciously  acquired  by  imitation. 
The  process  is  a  long  and  slow  one ;  but  by  long-continued 
repetition  it  is  effective.  Here  again  the  Kindergarten 
system  is  suggestive  of  natural  methods  of  training,  as  op- 
posed to  the  old  repressive  system  summed  up  in  the  for- 
mula "Study  your  book;  don't  ask  questions."  Well- 
conducted  oral  recitations  afford  the  most  effective  means 
of  securing  correctness  and  readiness  of  oral  expression. 
"  It  is  an  obvious  defect  in  teaching,"  says  Bain,  "  to  keep 
continually  lecturing  pupils  without  asking  them,  in  turn, 
to  reproduce  and  apply  what  is  said." 

Readiness  in  written  expression  is  a  more  difficult  at- 
tainment than  correctness  of  speech.  Training  in  com- 


INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING.  69 

position  should  begin  as  soon  as  the  child  can  write  at  all, 
and  should  be  continued  during  the  whole  period  of  school 
life.  "The  ability  to  define  our  thoughts,"  says  Ctirrie, 
u  and  to  express  them  in  a  clear  and  orderly  manner,  may 
be  taken  as  a  practical  test  of  an  intellectual  education." 
"A  child,"  says  Horace  Mann,  "must  not  only  be  exer- 
cised into  correctness  of  observation,  but  into  accuracy  in 
the  narration  or  description  of  what  he  has  seen,  heard, 
thought,  or  felt;  so  that  whatever  thoughts,  emotions, 
memories,  are  within  him,  he  can  present  them  all  to  oth- 
ers in  exact  and  luminous  words." 

Imagination. — The  first  step  is  to  train  the  pupil  to  ob- 
serve facts ;  the  next,  to  reproduce  clearly  the  conception 
of  facts,  which  power  may  be  classed  under  the  term  im- 
agination, as  that  word  is  used  to  include  the  whole  work 
of  remembering,  reproducing,  and  modifying  the  pictures 
of  direct  perception.  The  imagination  may  be  specially 
cultivated  by  the  recitation  of  suitable  poetry,  by  the 
speaking  of  dialogues,  by  declamations,  by  compositions 
upon  subjects  which  exercise  the  inventive  faculty,  and 
by  the  perusal  of  the  best  works  of  creative  genius. 

IV.   THE    REFLECTIVE    FACULTIES. 

The  modes  of  action  of  these  faculties  are  included  un- 
der the  heads  of  memory,  conception,  consciousness,  reason, 
understanding,  and  judgment ;  their  impelling  force  is  in- 
quiry; and  the  result  of  their  action  is  truth.  The  edu- 
cational processes  are  language  and  grammar,  composition 
and  rhetoric,  geography  and  history,  mathematics  and  nat- 
ural science,  or  whatever  is  made  a  subject  of  thought. 

Principles  in  Training. — Memory,  as  the  basis  of  the 
eflective  faculties,  consists,  not  so  much  in  remembering 


60  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

words  to  be  repeated  as  in  the  power  of  retaining  in  the 
mind  what  lias  been  experienced,  observed,  or  conceived. 
In  childhood,  the  memorizing  of  words  is  easy ;  but  the 
memory  of  ideas  and  principles  and  experiences  is  weak. 
As  the  pupil  advances  in  years,  memory  rises  to  a  higher 
order  of  power,  until  it  finally  begins  to  act  through  the 

ercise  of  the  judgment. 

The  retentive  faculty,"  says  Bain,  "is  the  faculty  that 
most  of  all  concerns  us  in  education.  All  improvement 
in  the  art  of  teaching  depends  on  the  attention  that  we 
give  to  the  various  circumstances  that  facilitate  acquire- 
ment, QT  lessen  the  number  of  repetitions  for  a  given  ef- 
fect." J/ 

The  foundation  of  memory  is  attention.  "As  is  the 
earnestness  of  attention,  so  is  the  duration  of  remembrance, 
or  the  distinctness  and  readiness  of  recollection." 

Throughout  the  entire  course  of  school  training,  the 
chief  reliance  of  memory  must  be  the  freshness  and  force 
of  attention  both  to  things  and  words.  "  The  more  force 
we  can  throw  into  the  act  of  noting  a  difference,"  says 
Bain,  "  the  better  is  that  difference  felt,  and  the  better  it 
is  impressed." 

In  cultivating  the  memory,  the  teacher  should  bear  in 
mind :  (1)  That  children  must  be  trained  to  habits  of  at- 
tention in  every  school  exercise ;  (2)  that  this  attention 
must  not  be  too  long-continued ;  (3)  that  pupils  must  be 
accustomed  to  memorize  poetry,  dialogues,  descriptions, 
and  definitions,  provided  they  first  comprehend  what  they 
learn ;  (4)  that  they  must  be  trained  to  remember  words 
as  well  as  ideas ;  (5)  that  what  is  told  them  by  the  teach- 
er, or  is  read  aloud  in  the  class,  is  better  remembered  than 
what  they  read  silently  from  the  printed  page ;  (6)  that 


INTELLECTUAL   TRAINING.  61 

there  must  be  frequent  reviews  of  ideas  already  acquired, 
in  order  to  fix  them  permanently  in  the  mind ;  (7)  that 
what  they  do  for  themselves  is  better  remembered  than 
what  is  told  them  by  the  teacher;  (8)  and  that  constantly 
doing  children's  thinking  for  them  is  the  worst  possible 
way  of  making  them  reflective. 

"  Experience  teaches  us,"  says  Dr.  Schwab,  of  Germany, 
"  more  and  more,  from  day  to  day,  that  a  child  will  retain 
in  its  memory  only  what  is  incorporated  into  its  life.  It 
will  forget  what  it  has  seen  or  heard,  but  rarely  or  never 
what  it  has  accomplished  through  its  own  efforts." 

The  teacher  must  also  take  into  consideration  the  fact 
that  the  inherent  power  of  memory  in  different  children 
is  a  variable  quantity  ;  and  this  fact  constitutes  one  of  the 
difficulties  in  the  management  of  large  classes.  No  meth- 
od and  no  teacher  can  impart  to  every  pupil  a  retentive 
memory.  But  no  teacher  should,  on  the  other  hand,  push 
to  extremes  those  who  are  gifted  by  nature  with  great 
power  of  retaining. 

"  The  absolute  power  of  retentiveness  in  any  individual 
mind,"  says  Bain,  "  is  a  limited  quantity.  There  is  no  way 
of  extending  this  limit  except  by  encroaching  on  some  of 
the  other  powers  of  the  mind,  or  else  by  quickening  the 
mental  faculties  altogether,  at  the  expense  of  the  bodily 
functions.  An  unnatural  memory  may  be  produced  at 
the  cost  of  reason,  judgment,  and  imagination,  or  at  the 
cost  of  the  emotional  aptitudes.  This  is  not  a  desirable 
result." 

The  reflective  faculties  are  not  fully  developed  during 
the  period  of  school  life,  and  a  consideration  of  reason  and 
judgment  hardly  comes  within  the  scope  of  this  chapter. 
("Reason,  reasoning,  and  giving  reasons  are  intellectual 


02  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

operations,"  says  Bain.  "  not  far  removed  from  some  of  the 
meanings  of  judgment."  "  Mankind,"  says  Faraday,  "  are 
willing,  generally,  to  leave  the  faculties  which  relate  to 
judgment  almost  entirely  uneducated,  and  their  decisions 
at  the  mercy  of  ignorance,  prepossessions,  the  passions,  or 
even  accident.  Society,  speaking  generally,  is  not  only  ig- 
norant as  respects  education  of  the  judgment,  but  is  also 
ignorant  of  its  ignorance."  Summing  up  the  whole  prov- 
ince of  these  faculties  in  a  paragraph,  Professor  Russell 
says, "  Reason  comes  to  the  mind  laboring  under  uncer- 
tainty, and  brings  the  aid  of  its  discursive  processes  of  ra- 
tiocination in  the  form  of  dissertation,  argument,  discus- 
sion, and  debate.  Assuming  the  seat  of  judgment,  it  thus 
institutes  inquiry,  conducts  examination,  prosecutes  inves- 
tigation, discriminates  terms,  scrutinizes  allegations,  weighs 
opposing  evidence,  judges  of  facts,  rejects  assumptions,  ex- 
poses error,  detects  truth  or  falsehood,  and  pronounces  its 
authoritative  and  final  decision  as  the  inevitable  law  of 
intellection." 

Now  the  common-school  teacher  can  hardly  be  expect- 
ed to  accomplish  a  great  deal  with  children,  in  respect  to 
these  faculties,  when  society  furnishes  so  many  cases  of 
arrested  development  of  the  reason  and  judgment  among 
adults;  but  though  learning  to  draw  correct  conclusions 
from  facts  is  the  hardest  thing  in  the  world  to  do,  the 
teacher  must  not  be  deterred  from  attempting  to  lay  a 
foundation  for  the  habit  of  thinking,  reflecting,  and  judg- 
ing. If  the  powers  of  observation,  attention,  memory, 
and  discrimination  are  rightly  trained  in  school,  the  whole 
after-life  of  the  pupil  may  become  a  continuous  course  of 
education ;  for  in  society,  as  in  school,  the  sources  of  knowl- 
edge are  reading,  conversation,  observation,  and  reflection. 


INTELLECTUAL   TKAINING.  03 

It  is  a  common  fault  in  our  systems  of  instruction  that 
the  attempt  is  made  to  force  the  reasoning  faculties  into 
premature  development.  At  ten  years  of  age,  children 
are  set  to  work  on  deductive  text-books  which  would  be 
hard  for  scholars  at  fifteen.  They  are  overworked,  and 
the  result  is  failure.  Huxley,  in  speaking  of  the  un- 
happy children  forced  by  the  stimulating  power  of  fre- 
quent competitive  examinations  to  rise  too  early  in  their 
class,  says,  "  They  are  conceited  all  the  forenoon  of  their 
life,  and  stupid  all  the  afternoon.  The  vigor  and  fresh- 
ness, which  should  have  been  stored  up  for  the  purposes 
of  the  hard  struggle  for  existence  in  practical  life,  have 
been  washed  out  of  them  by  precocious  mental  debauch- 
ery— by  book-gluttony  and  lesson-bibbing.  Their  facul- 
ties are  worn  out  by  the  strain  upon  their  callow  brains, 
and  they  are  demoralized  by  worthless  childish  triumphs 
before  the  real  work  of  life  begins." 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  V. 
SCHOOL    GOVERNMENT. 

I.   CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT. 

THE  foundation  of  school,  as  of  society,  is  law  and  or- 
der. The  teacher  must  possess  the  power  of  enforcing 
the  regulations  which  are  essential  to  the  existence  of 
the  school  as  a  small  social  organization.  School  govern- 
ment does  not  depend  wholly  upon  the  teacher;  there 
are  two  other  important  factors — home-training  and  the 
public  opinion  of  the  community  of  which  the  school  is 
a  part. 

The  infliction  of  corporal  punishment  is  one  of  the 
questions  for  the  young  teacher  to  meet  at  the  outset  of 
his  career.  The  opinions  generally  held  by  practical 
teachers  may  be  summed  up  as  follows : 

1.  It  should  be  the  aim  of  teachers  to  govern  without 
resorting  to  corporal  punishment. 

2.  Teachers  should  have  the  right  to  inflict  punishment 
in  extreme  cases. 

3.  In  general,  it  is  better  to  subdue  refractory  pupils 
by  corporal  punishment  than  to  expel  them  from  school. 

4.  As  most  parents  are  compelled,  at  times,  to  resort  to 
corporal  punishment  in  the  home  government  of  their 
children,  so  most  teachers  must  sometimes  resort  to  it  in 
school. 

Occasionally  there  are  men  of  great  will-power,  women 


SCHOOL   GOVERNMENT.  65 

of  great  charm  of  manner,  and  teachers  of  long  experience, 
who  govern  well  by  moral  suasion.  Sometimes  there  are 
well-bred  classes  that  can  easily  be  controlled  without 
force ;  but  these  exceptions  afford  no  basis  for  the  sick- 
ly sentimentalism  that  characterizes  all  corporal  punish- 
ments in  school  as  barbarous  and  brutal.  Most  teachers 
are  averse  to  whipping;  they  often  fail  to  inflict  it  when 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  good  of  the  school.  The 
traditional  pedagogue,  whose  chief  delight  was  in  the  fer- 
ule and  ratan,  is  extinct.  When  all  children  are  well  gov- 
erned at  home,  when  all  teachers  are  professionally  train- 
ed, when  all  parents  are  reasonable,  when  hereditary  ten- 
dencies are  more  in  harmony  with  existing  social  condi- 
tions, corporal  punishment  in  school  may  safely  be  abol- 
ished. When  humanity  becomes  so  highly  developed  that 
civil  law  imposes  no  severe  penalties  to  hold  lawless  im- 
pulses in  check,  it  will  be  easy  for  any  teacher  to  govern 
any  school  by  moral  influences  only. 

At  present,  in  school  as  in  State,  judicious  severity  is,  in 
the  end,  the  truest  kindness.  Fear  of  punishment  and 
physical  pain  is  the  only  check  to  the  lawlessness  of  some 
children  as  well  as  of  some  men.  The  penalties  of  crime, 
which  are  awarded  by  the  law  of  the  State,  are  designed, 
not  for  the  average  law-abiding  citizen,  but  for  the  excep- 
tional savage ;  and  corporal  punishment  in  school  is  held 
as  a  terror  only  over  the  exceptional  child.  In  his  address 
before  the  London  School  Board,  Huxley,  with  his  char- 
acteristic pith,  sets  forth  this  practical  philosophy  as  fol- 
lows : 

"But  your  'street  Arabs'  and  other  neglected  poor 
children  are  rather  worse  and  wilder  than  colts ;  for  the 
reason  that  the  horse-colt  has  only  his  animal  instincts  in 


66  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

him,  and  his  mother,  the  mare,  has  been  always  tender  over 
him,  and  never  came  home  drunk  and  kicked  him  in  her 
life ;  while  the  man-colt  rs  inspired  by  that  very  real  devil, 
perverted  manhood,  and  his  mother  may  have  done  all 
that  and  more.  So,  on  the  whole,  it  may  probably  be 
even  more  expedient  to  begin  your  attempt  to  get  at  the 
higher  nature  of  the  child  than  at  that  of  the  colt  from 
the  physical  side." 

II.   SELF-CONTROL. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  object  of  school  discipline 
is  the  formation  of  habits  of  self-control;  but  upon  chil- 
dren whose  impulses  are  strong  and  whose  habits  of  self- 
control  are  weak,  the  hand  of  power  must  be  laid,  to  re- 
mind them  of  duty  and  compel  them  to  do  it. 

The  power  to  govern  well  is  an  essential  quality  of  ev- 
ery successful  teacher.  When  a  new  instructor  takes 
charge  of  a  school  or  a  class,  there  is  always  a  trial  of 
strength  between  the  ruler  and  the  ruled ;  and  woe  be  to 
that  man  or  woman  who  falls  a  weak  prey  to  young  and 
merciless  school  tyrants.  "A  boy,"  says  Plato,  "is  the 
most  vicious  of  all  wild  beasts." 

The  young  are  the  creatures  of  impulse,  and  children 
seek  to  gratify  their  impulses  at  once,  without  reflection, 
and  without  reference  to  their  moral  character.  To  coun- 
teract this  tendency,  the  care  and  oversight  of  both  parents 
and  teachers  are  necessary.  Get  the  child  to  pause — to 
take  time  to  ask,. "Is  this  right  or  wrong?" — in  other 
words,  to  think.  In  all  these  cases,  the  old  rule  for  curb- 
ing a  bad  temper  is  very  good — "  Count  ten  slowly  be- 
fore you  speak  or  act."  Teachers  should  strive  to 
strengthen  the  child's  will  to  do  right.  And  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  self-control  is  not  learned  in  a  fourteen 


SCHOOL    GOVEKNMENT.  67 

weeks'  course,  as  some  languages  and  sciences  are  sup- 
posed to  be ;  but  that  it  is  acquired  only  by  life-long  ef- 
forts, and  by  those  alone  who  never  give  up.  "  Give  self- 
control,"  says  Charles  Buxton,  "  and  you  give  the  essence 
of  all  well-doing  in  mind,  body,  and  estate.  Morality, 
learning,  thought,  business,  success — the  master  of  him- 
self can  master  these." 

III.  PUBLIC    OPINION    OF   THE    SCHOOL. 

The  public  opinion  of  the  school  is  an  important  ele- 
ment in  discipline,  and  the  teacher  of  tact  will  skilfully 
direct  this  power  to  the  side  of  order  and  right-doing. 
Many  a  boy  is  influenced  by  the  judgments  of  his  fellows 
more  than  by  the  decisions  of  his  teachers.  There  are  in 
every  school  leaders  in  right -doing  and  ringleaders  in 
wrong-doing;  the  teacher  who  can  captivate  one  set  and 
capture  the  other  will  secure  good  government.  Few 
pupils  can  resist  when  they  find  themselves  condemned 
by  the  common  voice  of  their  companions,  whose  censure 
they  dread  more  than  that  of  their  superiors.  A  teacher 
can  easily  attach  to  himself  the  active,  energetic,  leading 
scholars  by  putting  them  into  places  of  honor,  trust,  or 
duty ;  and,  having  done  this,  it  is  easy  to  secure  their 
co-operation  in  establishing  a  wholesome  and  restraining 
school  influence. 

IV.   EMULATION. 

Emulation  is  a  powerful  agent  in  school;  but  it  must 
be  kept  within  bounds.  Bank  in  class  is  important ;  but 
it  is  not  everything.  Prizes  and  gifts  cannot  be,  and  ought 
not  to  be,  much  used  as  stimulants  in  a  public  school. 
"  The  schoolmaster's  means  of  reward,"  says  Bain,  "  is 
chiefly  confined  to  approbation  or  praise,  a  great  and 


,  68  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

flexible  instrument,  yet  needing  delicate  manipulation." 
A  system  of  ranking  pupils  according  to  percentage  in 
recitations  and  written  examinations  lias,  no  doubt,  its  ad- 
vantages in  stimulating  pupils  to  study.  But  the  wise 
teacher  will  check  the  spirit  of  reckless  ambition  in  the 
wild  race  for  promotion.  In  schools  for  girls,  this  spirit 
is  often  a  great  evil.  Girls  are  more  sensitive  and  more 
emotional  than  boys;  and  the  emotions  exhaust  health 
faster  than  exertions  of  body  or  mind.  With  girls,  the 
eagerness  for  success  is  so  keen,  the  dread  of  failure  is  so 
acute,  that  they  are  easily  injured  by  appeals  to  pride  and 
ambition  that  might  benefit  boys. 

V.    SCHOOL    DISCIPLINE. 

In  school  discipline,  much  depends  upon  making  pupils 
feel  that  rules  and  regulations  are  intended  for  their  own 
good,  not  that  they  are  made  by  the  teacher  for  his  own 
pleasure  in  exercising  arbitrary  power.  Most  pupils  pre- 
fer order  to  disorder,  firmness  to  weakness,  law  to  lawless- 
ness. Hence  calisthenics  and  military  precision  in  march- 
ing are  efficient  aids  in  securing  prompt  obedience  to  com- 
mands. It  is  evident  enough  to  pupils  themselves  that 
one  object  of  discipline  is  to  secure  a  sufficient  degree  of 
order,  quietness,  and  regularity  to  enable  them  to  pursue 
their  studies  and  recite  their  lessons  without  interruption ; 
but  the  higher  aim  of  strict  discipline  is  often  lost  sight 
of — namely,  to  train  the  will,  and  to  incite  scholars  to  put 
forth  vigorous  efforts  for  self-improvement  and  self-con- 
trol. 

Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  order  in  the  school- 
room. The  teacher  must  have  an  eye  like  a  hawk  to  see 
what  is  going  on,  and  a  quick  ear  to  detect  noise.  "Dis- 


SCHOOL   GOVERNMENT.  69 

order,"  says  Bain,  "  is  the  sure  sequel  of  the  teacher's  fail* 
ure  in  sight  or  hearing;  but  even  with  the  senses  good, 
there  may  be  absent  the  watchful  employment  of  them. 
This  is,  in  itself,  a  natural  incapacity  for  the  work  of  teach- 
ing. A  teacher  must  not  merely  be  sensitive  to  incipient 
and  masked  disorder ;  he  must  read  the  result  of  his  teach- 
ing in  the  pupil's  eyes." 

VI.    OBSTINACY. 

It  is  good  policy  to  avoid  driving  strong-willed  children 
into  obstinacy.  It  is  a  sad  mistake  "  to  break  a  child's 
will"  as  the  foundation  of  control  over  him.  Respect  the 
personality  and  individuality  of  every  pupil.  By  a  little 
patience  and  forbearance,  you  may  bring  to  bear  on  the 
self-willed  child  the  influence  of  Kindness,  sympathy,  or 
reason.  Set  your  own  tact  against  the  dull,  brutish  obsti- 
nacy of  your  pupil.  A  forced  submission  often  ends  in 
sullen  doggedness  or  a  smouldering  fire  of  rebellion.  The 
child  must  learn  obedience ;  that  is  the  first  and  greatest 
of  lessons.  From  childhood  to  old  age,  all  human  beings 
must  obey  the  laws  of  society  and  the  laws  of  nature. 
"With  the  impulsive  and  inexperienced  child,  real  affection 
for  the  teacher  will  secure  implicit  obedience,  and  nothing 
else  will. 

VII.    SCHOOL    DESPOTISM. 

The  government  of  a  school  must  be,  in  many  respects, 
an  absolute  monarchy,  and  it  will  have  all  the  vices  of  a 
despotism  unless  its  ruler  has  a  high  sense  of  responsibili- 
ty, and  a  knowledge  of  children  based  upon  a  careful  study 
of  the  nature  of  body  and  of  mind.  The  despotism  ought 
to  be  a  modification  of  patriarchal  rule. 

"  It  is  in  dealing  with  numbers,"  says  Bain,  "  that  the 


70  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

teacher  stands  distinguished  from  the  parent,  and  allied 
to  the  wider  authorities  of  the  State ;  exercising  larger 
control,  encountering  greater  risks,  and  requiring  a  more 
steady  hand.  "With  an  individual  pupil,  we  need  only 
such  motives  as  are  personal  to  himself;  with  numbers, 
we  are  under  the  harsh  necessity  of  punishing  for  exam- 
ple. .  .  .  The  stress  of  the  teacher's  difficulty  lies  in  the 
heavings  of  a  mass  or  multitude.  One  man  against  a 
multitude  is  always  in  the  post  of  danger." 


E 


VIII.    GENERAL    PRINCIPLES. 

[Selected  from  Bain's  Science  of  Education.] 

1.  "  Restraints  should  be  as  few  as  the  situation  admits 
of." 

2.  "Duties  and  offences  should  be  definitely  expressed, 
so  as  to  be  clearly  understood." 

3.  "Voluntary  dispositions  are  to  be  trusted  as  far  as 
they  can  go." 

4.  "By  organization  and  arrangement,  the  occasions  of 
disorder  are  avoided." 

5.  "  The  awe  and  influence  of  authority  are  maintained 
by  a  certain  formality  and  state." 

6.  "  It  is  understood  that  authority,  with  all  its  appur- 
tenances, exists  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed,  and  not 
as  a  perquisite  of  the  governor." 

Y.  "  The  operation  of  mere  vindictiveness  should  be  cur- 
tailed to  the  uttermost." 

8.  "  The  reasons  for  repression  and  discipline  should,  as 
far  as  possible,  be  made  intelligible  to  those  concerned ; 
and  should  be  referable  solely  to  the  general  good." 


SCHOOL   GOVEENMENT.  71 


IX.    CONDENSED    DIRECTIONS. 

1.  School  discipline,  like  instruction,  will  take  form  from 
the  temperament  and  character  of  the  teacher.     A  reputa- 
tion for  impartial  judgment  is  the  essential  requisite  of 
the  teacher  who  governs  well. 

2.  Make  but  few  rules,  and  do  not  indulge  in  much  talk- 
ing about  infringements  of  them.    Remember  that  pupils, 
as  well  as  teachers,  have  rights,  and  that  both  have  duties. 

3.  Put  yourself  in  the  place  of  your  pupils.     Recall 
your  own  school  experiences,  your  hopes  and  fears,  your 
impulses,  your  notions,  and  the  motives  that  influenced 
you.     If  you  do  so,  you  cannot  become  a  tyrant. 

4.  Secure  order,  if  possible,  without  corporal  punish- 
ment ;  but  secure  obedience  at  all  hazards.     In  school,  as 
in  an  army,  discipline  is  essential  to  existence. 

5.  The  best  way  to  lead  pupils  to  study  is,  not  by  threats 
and  compulsion,  but  by  showing  them  how  to  use  their 
text-books,  by  explaining  and  illustrating  their  hard  les- 
sons, and  by  appealing  to  the  higher  motives. 

6.  Do  not  tempt  your  pupils  to  become  habitually  de- 
ceitful and  untruthful,  by  making  use  of  the  "  self -report- 
ing system  "  in  scholarship  and  deportment.     It  is  a  de- 
vice worthy  of  the  Inquisition.     "  It  is,"  says  F.  S.  Jewell, 
"  both  stupidly  ingenious  and  transparently  vicious." 

7.  Regard  all  pupils  as  truthful  until  you  have  positive 
proof  to  the  contrary.     Children  with  a  high  sense  of 
honor  will  never  forgive  you  for  doubting  their  word,  or 
for  making  an  unjust  accusation.     "  The  only  teacher  I 
ever  intensely  hated,"  said  a  noted  instructor,"  was  a  young 
woman  who  charged  me,  unjustly,  before  the  school,  with 
telling  a  lie,  when  I  was  only  seven  years  old."     Trust 


72  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

your  pupils  if  you  want  them  to  put  their  trust  in  you. 
"  The  sweetest  praise  I  ever  heard,"  said  a  public  man, 
"  was  the  remark  made  by  my  father  when  I  was  twelve 
years  old :  ( My  boy  never  told  me  a  lie  in  his  life.' " 

8.  Encourage  truthfulness  by  rewarding  full  and  frank 
confession  with  a  remission  of  penalties,  so  far  as  is  con- 
sistent with  school  discipline.    Seventy  is  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  lying  and  deceit.     It  excites  fear,  and  fear  seeks 
an  easy  refuge  in  cunning  and  evasion. 

9.  Whispering  must  be  repressed  with  a  firm  hand.     It 
cannot  be  entirely  prevented,  but  it  may  be  checked  so  as 
to  prevent  disturbance  and  annoyance.     One  good  way  of 
checking  it  is  to  allow  a  short  whispering-recess  every 
hour  or  half -hour. 

10.  As  prevention  is  better  than  punishment,  children 
should  be  trained  to  a  general  habit  of  prompt  obedience 
in  minor  matters,  so  that  finally  they  will  submit  readily 
to  prohibitions  which  curb  their  strong  inclinations  and 
tendencies. 

11.  Penalties  and   punishments  must   be  certain,  and 
must  seem  to  be  the  natural  consequences  of  wrong  acts. 
The  child  should  know  what  he  has  to  expect,  and  when 
to  expect  it.     There  must  be  no  caprice,  no  variableness, 
no  shadow  of  turning.     The  child  soon  learns  to  yield  to 
the  inevitable. 

12.  Do  not  worry ;  do  not  be  discouraged ;  think  that 
your  agitation,  your  nervousness,  will  extend  to  your  pu- 
pils.    Unite  patience  with  hope,  gentleness  with  firmness, 
equanimity  with  force   of  character.      Have  a  pleasant 
voice  and  a  cheerful  countenance,  and  show  yourself  the 
sincere  friend  of  every  pupil ;  let  your  school  be  one  that 
will  always  have  agreeable  associations  connected  with  it,: 


SCHOOL   GOVEKNMENT.  73 

but  if  an  emergency  comes,  be  prompt  and  resolute  to 
meet  it,  but  always  calm. 

13.  Take  care  of  the  health  of  your  pupils.     See  that 
all  exercise  during  the  time  assigned  for  that  purpose. 
Keep  the   room   well   ventilated,  but   expose    none   to 
draughts.     A  strong  constitution  with  fair  abilities  is  bet- 
ter than  brilliant  talents  in  a  feeble  frame.     Many  a  brill- 
iant man  has  broken  down  from  want  of  stamina.     It  is 
the  steady  worker  that  succeeds.     Industry,  patience,  per- 
severance,  energy,  endurance,  are  the  keys  that  unlock  the 
door  of  success,  and  these  qualities  cannot  be  found  in 
weak  and  sickly  bodies. 

14.  Be  tolerant  of  thoughtlessness,  and  severe  only  in 
cases  of  wilful  disobedience. 

15.  Do  not  assign  mental  tasks  after  school  hours  as  a 
punishment.    The  practice  of  compelling  children  to  com- 
mit to  memory  or  to  translate,  as  a  penalty,  is  educational 
barbarism. 

16.  One  of  the  most  effective  means  of  punishment  is  to 
deprive  the  offender  of  some  privilege,  or  to  cut  him  off 
from  the  society  of  schoolmates  at  recess  or  intermission. 

17.  Among  schoolboys,  fighting  is  a  constant  source  of 
disturbance.     It  is  next  to  impossible  entirely  to  prevent 
it ;  but  it  may  be  greatly  lessened  by  cultivating  a  true 
sense  of  honor,  to  take  the  place  of  the  conventional  code 
prevalent  among  boys.     A  little  good-natured  ridicule 
will  sometimes  prove  very  effective. 

18.  "  Strong  terms  of  reproof,"  says  Bain, "  should  be 
sparing,  in  order  to  be  effective.    Still  more  sparing  ought 
to  be  the  tones  of  anger.     Loss  of  temper,  however  excus- 
able, is  really  victory  to  wrong-doers,  although,  for  the  mo- 
ment, it  may  strike  terror." 

4 


74  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

19.  Common  -  sense  is  in  the  highest  degree  requisite 
for  the  right  administration  of  school  affairs.     It  is  easy 
enough  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  Hack  cases  and  the 
white,  but  the  gray  cases  are  the  difficult  ones.     Nothing 
but  sound  judgment  can  determine  a  large  class  of  school 
oifences. 

20.  There  is  a  conventional  sense  of  honor  among  school- 
boys which  binds  them  not  to  inform  the  teacher  of  the 
misdeeds  of  their  fellows.     However  false  this  code  may 
be,  he  is  an  unwise  teacher  who  takes  ground  against  the 
school  opinion,  and  endeavors,  by  threats  of  punishment, 
to  compel  pupils  to  become  informers.     Let  him  put  his 
tact  against  the  brute  power  of  the  school,  and  he  may 
succeed  in  modifying  the  school  code  so  as  to  draw  a  line 
of  distinction  between  the  minor  matters  that  belong  to 
the  "  tattling  order"  and  the  graver  offences  that  concern 
the  real  welfare  of  the  school. 

21.  A  foundation  principle  of  school  government  is  that 
every  pupil  shall  be  allowed  the  largest  liberty  possible, 
without  infringing  on  the  rights,  interests,  or  convenience 
of  others. 

22.  Do  your  utmost  to  prevent  faults  before  you  think 
of  punishing  them.     Be  patient  and  forbearing,  for  obe- 
dience is  a  habit  formed  only  by  long-continued  train- 
ing.   "  Avoid  direct  collision  with  children,"  says  Buxton. 
"  Have  tact  enough  to  divert  the  child's  attention  from  its 
own  obstinacy,  and  in  a  few  moments  you  will  lead  it 
gently  round  to  submission." 

23.  Do  not  assume  that  the  parent  is  your  natural  ene- 
my, and,  above  all,  do  not  act  as  if  he  were.    Parents  have 
rights,  and  are  generally  reasonable  if  those  rights  are  re* 
spected. 


SC1IOOL    GOVERNMENT.  75 

24.  Do  not  make  cast-iron  rules  with  unchangeable  pen- 
alties. If  you  fail  to  enforce  fixed  penalties,  you  lose  the 
respect  of  your  pupils;  and  if  you  do  enforce  them,  you 
may  often  be  guilty  of  injustice.  Give  your  verdict  and 
pass  sentence  after  the  conviction  of  the  culprit. 

X.   PUNISHMENT. 

1.  There  can  be  no  government  where  there  is  no  pun- 
ishment ;  but  the  teacher's  aim  should  be  to  prevent,  as 
far  as  practicable,  the  necessity  of  punishment. 

2.  The  true  object  of  school  punishment  is  to  reform 
the  offender,  to  deter  others  from  wrong- doing,  and  to 
maintain  law. 

3.  The  chief  means  of  preventing  the  necessity  of  pun- 
ishment are :  (1)  active  and  pleasant  employment,  (2)  the 
personal  influence  of  the  teacher,  and  (3)  the  public  opin- 
ion of  the  school. 

4.  Punishment  must  be  varied  according  to  the  temper- 
ament of  the  child.     A  frown  will  act  on  one ;  separation 
from  companions,  on  another ;  neglect  and  coldness,  on  a 
third ;  public  reprimands,  on  a  fourth ;  and  a  whipping, 
on  a  fifth.     "  The  first  and  readiest,  and  ever  the  best, 
form  of  punishment,"  says  Bain,  "is  censure,  reprobation, 
dispraise." 

5.  In  general,  for  younger  children,  corporal  punish- 
ment is  most  effective ;  for  older  pupils,  isolation,  loss  of 
privileges,  or  appeals  to  a  sense  of  honor. 

6.  Do  not  make  threats  of  punishment  in  advance  of 
offences;  you  will  only  tempt  pupils  to  try  you  by  dis- 
obeying, or  suggest  to  them  the  doing  of  something  they 
would  otherwise  never  have  thought  of. 

7.  It  is  the  certainty,  not  the  severity,  of  punishment 


76  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

that  deters  pupils  from  violating  regulations.  Make  your 
penalties  light,  but  as  certain  as  the  rising  and  setting  of 
the  sun. 

8.  "  It  is  a  rule  in  punishment,"  says  Bain,  "  to  try  slight 
penalties  at  first ;  with  the  better  natures,  the  mere  idea  of 
punishment  is  enough;  severity  is  entirely  unnecessary. 
It  is  a  coarse  and  blundering  system  that  knows  of  noth- 
ing but  the  severe  and  degrading  sorts." 

9.  Do  not  try.  to  make  scholars  learn  by  whipping  them 
for  unlearned  lessons. 

10.  Never  strike  a  child  on  the  head.    Never  inflict  per- 
sonal indignities,  such  as  pulling  the  hair,  pulling  the  ears, 
slapping  the  face ;  for  they  excite  the  bitterest  resentment, 
and  are  seldom  forgiven. 

11.  In  extreme  cases  of  wilful  and  open  defiance  of  au- 
thority, punishment  may  be  inflicted  publicly  and  imme- 
diately before  the  school ;  but,  in  general,  it  is  better  to 
inflict  it  in  private,  not  in  anger,  but  coolly  and  deliber- 
ately. 

12.  Before  whipping,  be  absolutely  certain  of  the  guilt 
of  the  offender,  and  then  inflict  punishment  so  thoroughly 
that  it  will  be  remembered.    Your  object  is  to  inflict  pain 
so  as  to  deter  the  culprit  from  further  wrong-doing. 

13.  It  is  a  good  rule  to  postpone  the  infliction  of  pun- 
ishment to  the  next  day — especially  in  bad  cases.     Tell 
the  boy  to  come  to  school  the  next  morning  half  an  hour 
before  school-time,  and  that  in  .the  meantime  you  will 
think  the  matter  over,  and  will  then  let  him  know  what 
your  deliberate  decision  is  in  his  case.     It  is  surprising 
what  a  change  a  little  delay  or  a  night's  sleep  will  make 
in  the  feelings  of  both  teacher  and  pupil — the  former  los- 
ing his  irritation,  and  the  latter  his  stubbornness. 


SCHOOL   GOVERNMENT.  77 

14.  If  you  have  a  case  that  calls  for  some  severe  pun- 
ishment of  the  offender,  consult  the  parents,  if  possible, 
before  you  take  action.     By  doing  so  you  may  avoid  com- 
plaints, irritation,  and  ill-feeling.    But  there  are  cases  that 
demand  summary  punishment  as  soon  as  the  offence  is 
committed. 

15.  "Where  a  school  is  well  conducted,"  says  Horace 
Mann,  "  the  minimum  of  punishment  is  the  maximum  of 
qualifications." 

16.  "  The  sense  of  honor,"  says  Superintendent  Harris, 
"is  developed  earlier  with  each  succeeding  generation, 
and  corporal  punishment  should  give  place  to  punish- 
ments affecting  the  sense  of  honor  as  soon  as  this  sense 
develops." 

"  "When  corporal  punishment  is  kept  up,"  says  Bain, "  it 
should  be  at  the  far  end  of  the  list  of  penalties ;  its  slight- 
est application  should  be  accounted  the  worst  disgrace." 


78  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  YI. 
THE   SCHOOLROOM. 

I.  SPECIAL    DIRECTIONS    AND    SUGGESTIONS    FOR    PRINCIPALS. 

1.  BEAR  in  mind  that  an  assemblage  of  classes  does  not 
constitute  a  school  until  a  principal  has  breathed  into  it  a 
soul. 

2.  Remember  that  with  assistants,  as  with  other  people, 
requests  and  suggestions  are  pleasanter  and  more  effective 
than  authoritative  directions.      Respect  the  rights   and 
privileges  as  well  as  the  duties  of  assistants,  and  you  will, 
in  general,  get  along  pleasantly  and  peaceably  with  them, 
and  will  secure  what  is  essential  to  your  own  success — 
their  hearty  co-operation  in  your  plans  and  methods.    One 
of  Thomas  Arnold's  noblest  reforms  was  to  raise  the  un- 
der-masters  from  being  little  better  than  menials  to  the 
position  of  honored  and  trusted  associates  and  instructors. 

3.  Be  patient  with  the  shortcomings  of  inexperienced 
assistants,  remembering  that  you  yourself  were,  once  in 
your  life,  a  young  teacher  without  experience. 

4.  Do  not  expect  assistants  to  do  everything  in  exactly 
your  way.     Insist  upon  uniformity  only  in  essentials,  al- 
lowing the  widest  possible  scope  for  the  exercise  of  indi- 
viduality in  the  details  of  school-work. 

5.  Caution  young  assistants  against  overwork  and  wor- 
ry ;  against  detaining  pupils  after  school ;  and  against  ex- 
pecting to  make  good  scholars  out  of  all  their  pupils. 


THE   SCHOOLROOM.  79 

6.  It  is  a  part  of  your  duty  to  outline  the  grade-work  of 
assistants ;  to  see  that  they  make  a  proper  use  of  globes, 
maps,  charts,  and  other  school  appliances;  and  to  order 
such  reviews  and  general  exercises  as  shall  secure  atten- 
tion to  the  essential  things  of  the  course  of  study. 

7.  Make  a  systematic  use  of  the  school  librar}7,  and  in- 
struct your  assistants  to  keep  a  close  supervision  over  what 
their  pupils  read,  and  how  they  read  it.     If  there  is  no 
school  library,  both  principal  and  assistants  should  influ- 
ence their  pupils'  selection  of  books  from  the  public  library. 

8.  As  far  as  practicable,  arrange  your  school  course  so 
that  some  studies  in  the  year's  work  may  be  completed 
before  others  are  taken  up.     In  other  words,  do  not  crowd 
the  minds  of  pupils  with  too  many  things  at  once. 

9.  It  is  your  duty  in  written  examinations  to  direct  the 
attention  of  your  assistants  to  the  main  points  in  each  of 
the  studies  pursued,  not  to  distract  their  efforts  by  dwell- 
ing on  particulars.    Prepare  your  questions  with  care  and 
judgment.     The  art  of  asking  suitable  questions  is  essen- 
tial to  good  supervision,  for  the  questions  will  determine 
in  no  small  degree  the  kind  of  instruction  given  by  as- 
sistants.    Take  your  own  knowledge  of  the  subject  with- 
out referring  to  a  text-book;  consider  a  simple  fraction 
of  that,  and  you  may  succeed  in  making  out  a  set  of 
questions  suited  to  the  capacity  of  your  pupils.     When 
you   are  preparing  questions,  think   of  how  little  you 
knew  when  a  pupil,  not  of  what  you  know  now,  after  years 
of  teaching,  or  with  a  book  open  before  you.     "  How  few 
examiners,"  says  Homer  B.  Sprague,  Principal   of  the 
Girls'  High  School  in  Boston,  "  know  enough  to  separate 
the  transient  from  the  permanent,  discriminate  between 
knowledge  that  must  be  kept  in  readiness  to  do  service 


80  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

at  any  moment  and  knowledge  that,  having  served  its 
purpose  as  discipline,  may  without  loss  be  forgotten !" 

10.  During  the  year,  prevent  "  cramming"  by  never  let- 
ting your  pupils  know  when  an  examination  is  to  hap- 
pen.    Hold  examinations  at  irregular  intervals,  and  not 
too  often.     Make  the  percentages  obtained  subordinate 
{to  good  standing  won  by  daily  attention  to  school-work. 
"  Like  everything  else  that  is  good,"  says  Superintendent 
Eliot,  "  like  exercise,  like  study,  like  enthusiasm,  exam- 
inations can  be  perverted,  and  then  they  turn  into  evil. 
Just  as  any  other  burdens,  these  may  bend  the  shoulders 
and  break  the  spirit,  or  they  may  be  borne  upon  uplifted 
head  and  with  buoyant  heart." 

11.  As  the  annual  examination  for  promotion  or  gradu- 
ation draws  near,  do  not  lash  your  assistants  and  scholars 
into  a  state  of  feverish  excitement.    Huxley  justly  styles 
the  stimulating  of  pupils  to  work  at  high-pressure,  by  in- 
cessant competitive  examinations,  "  the  Abomination  of 
Desolation."     A  principal  should  be  calm,  cool,  well-bal- 
anced, and  stead}T,  and  should  keep  his  school  so.     "  There 
is  nothing  so  terrible,"  says  Goethe,  "as  activity  without 
insight." 

12.  Do  not  require  assistants  to  correct  an  armful  of 
papers  every  night  at  home.     They  need  the  time  for  rest, 
recreation,  and  reading.     This  work  is  a  thankless  drudg- 
ery, and,  in  most  cases,  a  useless  labor.    Except  in  official 
examinations  ordered  by  superintendents,  let  your  assist- 
ants train  their  pupils  to  exchange  papers,  and,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  teacher,  correct  one  another's  exercises 
(luring  school  hours.     On  this  point  Superintendent  Eliot 
says,  "While  it  is  wise  to  test  instruction,  it  is  unwise 
to  make  as  much  of  testing  as  of  instructing.    Yet  this  is 


THE   SCHOOLROOM.  81 

the  natural  result  of  keeping  teachers  busy  as  examiners. 
The  preparation  and  correction  of  examination  papers  ab- 
sorb a  large  amount  of  time  and  force  that  might  be  bet- 
ter used." 

13.  If  you  are  allowed  any  discretion  whatever  under  the 
rigid  rule  of  graded-school  machinery  in  cities,  classify  and 
promote  pupils  somewhat  according  to  age,  circumstances, 
and  apparent  latent  capacity,  not  by  "  percentage  "  alone. 
"  The  living  human  being,"  says  Dr.  Wiese,  in  speaking 
of  written  examinations,  "  is  not  an  arithmetical  problem." 

14.  In  your  higher-grade  classes,  make  frequent  oral  re- 
view examinations  on  the  essential  elements,  so  that  pupils 
may  not  only  know  something,  but  also  may  be  able  to  tell 
it.     A  proper  oral  examination  will  show  better  than  a 
written  one  what  has  been  acquired. 

15.  A  weekly  spelling-match  will  be  found  a  good  gen- 
eral exercise  in  exciting  a  lively  interest  in  orthography. 
A  week  in  advance,  send  out  a  list  of  fifty  or  one  hundred 
words  in  current  use  liable  to  be  misspelled,  and  let  all  the 
grammar-grade  classes  copy  it  into  blank-books  for  the 
next  lesson.     Or  assign  a  suitable  lesson  in  the  spelling- 
book,  if  a  good  one  is  in  use.     The  match  may  be  conduct- 
ed in  writing,  and  the  percentage  reported  by  each  class ; 
or  orally,  matching  classes  in  pairs,  a  higher  grade  against 
a  lower. 

16.  For  a  general  exercise  in  composition,  assign  some 
suitable  topic  to  all  the  grammar  grades,  and  another  topic 
to  the  higher  primary  grades.     Then  exchange  the  com- 
positions by  classes,  requiring  the  higher  grades  to  cor- 
rect the  work  of  the  lower,  and  allowing  the  lower  grades 
to  be  benefited  by  reading  the  compositions  of  the  higher 
grades.    All  children  feel  a  lively  interest  in  anything 

4* 


82  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

written  by  some  one  they  know.  Or  give  out  a  subject  a 
week  in  advance,  and  tell  the  pupils  to  collect  all  the  in- 
formation about  it  they  please ;  but  require  them  to  write 
it  out  in  school,  so  as  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  their 
copying  or  receiving  outside  assistance. 

17.  If  your  assistants  are  inexperienced  in  graded-school 
work,  mark  out  month  by  month  what  they  ought  to  ac- 
complish in  each  branch  of  study. 

18.  Instruct  your  assistants  to  allow  regular  intervals 
for  study  in  school.     In  some  branches,  such  as  geogra- 
phy, history,  arithmetic,  and  spelling,  the  first  ten  minutes 
of  the  half -hour  intended  for  recitation  may  profitably 
be  given  to  study,  provided  the  teacher  sees  that  pupils 
do  actually  study. 

19.  Instruct  your  assistants  what  lessons  to  assign  for 
home  study,  and  see  to  it  that  the  lessons  so  assigned  are 
of  reasonable  length.     Arithmetic  lessons  and  composi- 
tions or  exercises  which  are  to  be  written  ought  not  to  be 
given  out  for  home  work.     Few  of  your  pupils  may  have 
conveniences  for  writing  at  home.     Only  lessons  which 
require  mainly  an  exercise  of  memory,  and  which  are 
learned  from  the  book,  are  suitable  for  out-of-school  study ; 
such  as  spelling,  geography,  and  history.     In  order  to  as- 
certain if  your  assistants  carry  out  your  instructions,  re- 
quire them  at  intervals  to  report  to  you  the  exact  lessons 
which  they  assign,  or  let  them  appoint  some  member  of 
each  class  to  report  to  you. 

20.  Do  not  allow  assistants  to  assign  any  lessons  what- 
ever to  pupils  in  grades  below  the  fourth  school-year ;  ex- 
cept, perhaps,  a  spelling-lesson,  or  a  reading-lesson  to  be 
read  aloud  to  parents. 

21.  Set  apart,  every  week,  half  an  hour  on  Monday  or 


THE    SCHOOLROOM.  83 

Friday  for  a  lesson  in  each  room  on  morals  and  manners. 
Sometimes  assign  the  same  topic  for  all  grades,  and  some- 
times let  assistants  select  their  own  subject  and  conduct 
the  exercise  in  their  own  way. 

22.  When  you  discover  pale,  weak,  sickly,  fast-growing 
boys  or  girls  in  any  of  your  classes,  advise  parents  to  take 
them  out  of  school  for  a  season,  and  turn  them  loose  at 
work  or  play. 

23.  Insist  upon  neatness  of  person  and  dress,  propriety 
of  language  and  deportment,  truthfulness  and  honesty,  dil- 
igence and  obedience. 

24.  It  is  a  part  of  your  duty  as  principal  to  impress 
upon  every  pupil  in  every  class  the  dignity  of  work, 
either  mental  or  manual,  and  the  necessity  of  labor  as  a 
means  of  happiness. 

25.  Merely  looking  on  and  seeing  assistants  teach  is 
not  doing  a  principal's  whole  duty  in  supervision.     If 
you  are  relieved  from  teaching  a  special  class,  you  must 
teach  enough  in  every  class  to  direct  assistants  and  to  give 
spirit  to  every  pupil. 

26.  Have  no  hobby,  but  give  appropriate  time  and  at- 
tention to  every  study  laid  down  in  the  prescribed  course 
of  instruction. 

27.  Be  satisfied  to  introduce  new  and  improved  methods 
slowly.     Assistants,  as  a  general  rule,  settle  into  their  own 
ways,  and  are  reluctant  to  change  them.    "  I  came  to  Kug- 
by,"  says  Arnold,  "  full  of  plans  for  school  reform ;  but  I 
soon  found  that  the  reform  of  a  public  school  was  a  much 
more  difficult  thing  than  I  had  imagined." 

28.  Endeavor  to  secure  from  your  teachers  a  wise  com- 
bination of  oral  and  object  teaching  after  the  new  style, 
with  the  old-fashioned  text-book  drill.     Personal  investi- 


84:  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

gation  is  good,  to  a  certain  extent,  both  for  teacher  and 
pupil ;  but  neither  that  nor  lectures  can  accomplish  much 
compared  with  the  accumulated  knowledge  of  the  race 
crystallized  into  good  books.  It  is  quite  as  possible  for 
oral  instruction  to  degenerate  into  idle  babble  as  for  text- 
book study  to  run  into  meaningless  memorizing. 

29.  In  government,  the  strongest  force  is  the  public 
opinion  of  the  school.     Spare  no  efforts  to  turn  this  opin- 
ion in  the  right  direction,  so  that  its  rules,  customs,  judg- 
ments, decisions,  and  unwritten  laws  shall  be  inexorably 
binding  on  every  new-comer,  with  a  force  greater  than 
that  of  master  or  assistant.     When  you  have  breathed  the 
breath  of  life  into  your  school,  when  you  can  feel  every 
beat  of  its  pulse,  then  you  are  really  its  master. 

30.  Do  not  try  to  please  everybody;  do  not  expect  to  I 
make  your  school  perfect ;  do  not  sacrifice  your  pupils  / 
to  your  personal  ambition  for  making  brilliant  scholars.  \ 
When  you  get  impatient  with  dulness,  remember  that  all  ] 
lasting  progress  is  slow. 

31.  Cultivate  a  habit  of  cheerfulness  that  shall  shine 
out  from  your  countenance  like  the  light  of  the  rising 
sun.     Assistants  and  pupils  may  take  their  tone  from  the 
manner  of  the  principal.    "  A  teacher  has  only  partially 
comprehended  the  familiar  powers   of  his  place,"  says 
Huntington,  "who  has  left  out  the  lessons  of  his  own 
countenance.   There  is  a  perpetual  picture  which  his  pupils 
study  as  unconsciously  as  he  exhibits  it.     His  plans  will 
miscarry  if  he  expects  a  genial  and  nourishing  session 
when  he  enters  with  a  face  blacker  than  the  blackboard." 

32.  If  you  stop  growing  intellectually,  if  you  forget  you 
were  once  a  boy  or  a  girl,  if  you  lose  your  sympathy  with 
children,  it  is  time  for  you  to  resign. 


THE    SCHOOLROOM.  85 

33.  If  you  would  secure  the  best  results  of  a  good  school, 
keep  up  your  enthusiasm,  and  fire  your  school  with  it. 
"Without  enthusiasm,"  says  Chadbourne,  "  no  teacher  can 
have  the  best  success,  however  learned  and  faithful  and 
hard-working  he  may  be.     Enthusiasm  is  the  heat  that 
softens  the  iron,  that  every  blow  may  tell.     Enthusiasm, 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  gives  life  to  the  student,  and 
an  impulse  to  every  mental  power.     When  this  is  accom- 
plished, there  is  no  more  waste  in  lifting,  dragging,  or  driv- 
ing.    It  was  the  enthusiasm  of  Agassiz  that  clothed  the 
commonest  things  with  new  life  and  beauty ;  that  charmed 
every  listener,  and  transformed  the  aged  and  the  young, 
the  ignorant  and  the  learned,  into  joyful  learners." 

34.  In  the  long  summer  vacations,  flee  to  the  woods  or 
the  mountains,  where  you  can  rest,  think,  and  absorb  vital- 
ity from  nature.    Otherwise  there  is  danger  that  you  may 
have  all  your  individuality  taken  out  of  you  by  the  steady 
drain  of  nervous  force,  and  that  you  may  degenerate  into 
a  pedagogic  machine. 

II.    SPECIAL    DIRECTIONS    FOB    ASSISTANTS. 

1.  Carry  out,  in  good  faith,  the  methods  and  general 
regulations  of  your  principal. 

2.  It  is  not  best  for  you  to  say  you  know  more  than  the 
principal,  even  if  you  think  so. 

3.  Do  not  expect  principals  to  be  absolutely  perfect ;  if 
they  were,  they  would  be  unsuited  to  assistants. 

4.  As  far  as  possible,  govern  your  class  yourself.    Every 
time  you  refer  a  case  of  discipline  to  the  principal,  you 
weaken  your  own  authority  in  the  eyes  of  your  pupils. 

5.  Do  not  worry  your  scholars  all  the  year  with  the 
threat  that   they  will   probably   fail   to   be   promoted. 


80  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

Your  duty  is,  not  to  discourage  pupils,  but  to  encourage 
them. 

G.  Do  not  make  it  your  chief  ambition  to  promote  ev- 
ery member  of  your  class;  in  every  class  of  fifty  there 
must  be  a  few  failures,  and  there  will  probably  be  a  few 
that  are  too  young  to  be  advanced. 

7.  You  have  no  right  to  expect  that  any  class  just  pro-  • 
moted  from  a  lower  grade  into  your  room  is  deficient  in 
nothing;  therefore,  it  is  not  wise  for  you  to  make  sharp 
allusions  to  the  shiftlessness  of  the  previous  teacher. 

8.  Consider  your  class  a  part  of  the  school  as  a  whole, 
not  as  your  exclusive  possession. 

9.  A  large  school  must  be  conducted  on  strict  business 
principles,  in  regard  to  punctuality  and  promptness  on  the 
part  of  teachers  as  well  as  pupils ;  but  it  is  not  desirable  to 
make  a  hobby  of  extremely  high  reports  in  respect  to  at- 
tendance.    Cheerfully  excuse  both  tardiness  and  absence 
occasioned  by  home  duties  or  by  sickness  in  the  family. 

10.  Be  patient  and  forbearing  with  "your  pupils  when 
they  take  up  a  new  study.     It  is  the  first  trials  that  are 
awkward  and  hard.     When  you  get  impatient  at  slowness 
or  want  of  comprehension,  sit  down  at  your  desk  and  try  to 

\_  write  writh  your  left  hand,  or  to  read  a  page  upside  down. 

11.  Remember  that  what  your  pupils  do  for  themselves 
makes  the  strongest  impression  on  their  minds. 

12.  Assign  reasonable  lessons  suited  to  the  capacity,  not 
of  the  best,  but  of  the  average  scholars.     Look  out  for  es- 
sentials, and  let  non-essentials  alone. 

13.  Divide  your  class  into  two  sections,  and  match  one 
against  the  other.     Make  up  a  match  between  your  class 
and  another  of  the  same  grade.    These  matches  will  awak- 
en a  generous  spirit  of  class  rivalry. 


THE    SCHOOLROOM.  87 

14.  Do  not  allow  your  pupils  to  discover  that  they  can 
annoy  you.     If  they  are  noisy,  you  must  keep  calm,  cool, 
and  quiet,  and  speak  in  your  lowest  tone. 

15.  Seldom  detain  your  scholars  after  school  for  disci- 
pline, and  never  detain  them  long  to  study  unlearned  les- 
sons.   "  No  Learning,"  says  Socrates,  as  translated  by  Rog- 
er Ascham,  "  ought  to  be  learned  with  Bondage ;  for  bod- 
ily Labours  wrought  by  Compulsion  hurt  not  the  Body ; 
but  any  Learning  learned  by  Compulsion  tarrieth  not  long 
in  the  Mind." 

16.  In  some  studies,  it  may  be  advisable,  before  each 
recitation  in  a  graded  class,  to  allow  from  five  to  ten  min- 
utes for  studying  the  lesson  to  be  recited. 

17.  If  you  assign  home  lessons,  show  your  pupils  how 
to  study  those  lessons,  so  that  they  can  learn  them  without 
calling  for  assistance  from  parents.     As  a  general  rule,  do 
not  require  examples  in  arithmetic,  or  any  other  exercises 
in  writing  to  be  done  at  home. 

18.  Do  not  reprove,  but  encourage,  slow,  plodding  chil- 
dren.    Dr.  Arnold  says  he  never  was  so  ashamed  in  his 
life  as  when,  after  a  sharp  reproof,  a  boy  turned  to  him 
and  said,  "  Why  do  you  speak  angrily,  sir  ?     Indeed,  I  am 
doing  the  best  I  can." 

19.  Exercise  all  your  tact  to  mould  the  spirit  of  your 
class,  so  that  it  shall  be  exerted  on  your  side  in  favor  of 
good  order  and  right-doing. 

20.  Teaching  is  the  work  of  the  teacher ;  learning  is  the 
duty  of  the  pupil.    How  to  rightly  combine  teaching  and 
learning  is  the  difficult  problem  that  every  teacher  must 
try  to  solve  by  long -continued  study  and  observation. 
The  scholar's  efforts  to  learn  by  book-study  must  be  made 
profitable  by  good  teaching.     "  Learning  without  teach- 


88  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

ing,"  says  Ascham's  Scliolemaster,  "  makes  lubbers,  always 
learning,  never  profiting." 

21.  Stand  ready  to  give  a  fair  consideration  to  new 
methods  in  teaching,  even  if  they  differ  from  your  pre- 
conceived ideas.     "  The  only  way  in  which  a  human  be- 
ing can  make  some  approach  to  knowing  the  whole  of  a 
subject,"  says  John  Stuart  Mill,  "  is  by  hearing  what  can 
be  said  about  it  by  persons  of  every  variety  of  opinion, 
and  studying  all  modes  in  which  it  can  be  looked  at  by 
every  character  of  mind.     No  wise  man  ever  acquired 
his  wisdom  in  any  mode  but  this;  nor  is  it  in  the  nature 
of  human  intellect  to  become  wise  in  any  other  manner." 

22.  Do  not  expect,  even  by  the  very  best  teaching,  to 
make  good  scholars  out  of  all  your  pupils.    "  No  teacher," 
says  Prof.  Raumer,  "  should  ever  seek,  by  excessive  stimu- 
lation, to  spur  on  his  pupils  to  an  unnatural  point  of  at- 
tainment which  most  of  them  can  never  reach."    "I  hate 
by-roads  to  education,"  says  Dr.  Johnson  ;  "  endeavoring 
to  make  children  prematurely  wise  is  useless  labor." 

23.  "  Remember  the  care  of  your  health,"  says  Carlyle. 
"You  are  to  regard  that  as  the  very  highest  of  all  tem- 
poral things  for  you.    There  is  no  achievement  you  could 
make  in  the  world  that  is  equal  to  perfect  health." 

III.   MANAGEMENT    IN    GENERAL. 

1.  First  of  all,  make  your  school  pleasant.  The  primary 
condition  of  a  learner  is  satisfaction  in  learning.  Spencer 
says,  "  to  enlist  pleasure  on  the  side  of  intellectual  perform- 
ance is  a  point  of  the  utmost  importance."  "The  first  duty 
towards  children,"  sa3Ts  Buxton,  "is  to  make  them  happy. 
Their  school  may  teach  them  all  learning  and  all  righteous- 
ness ;  but  if  the  pupils  are  not  happy,  it  is  a  bad  school." 


THE   SCHOOLEOOM.  89 

2.  Make  up  your  mind  that  you  must  leave  many  things 
untaught ;  no  man  or  woman  ever  yet  succeeded  in  teach- 
ing everything.     Do  not  expect  your  pupils  to  know  as 
much  as  you  do,  and  do  not  call  them  dull  or  stupid  be- 
cause they  fail  in  things  that  seem  to  you  to  be  simple 
and  easy. 

3.  The  less  you  threaten,  the  less  you  find  fault,  the 
less  you  scold,  the  more  friends  you  will  have  among  the 
boys  and  girls,  and  the  better  will  be  your  school. 

4.  Unless  you  wish  to  be  hated,  beware  of  sarcasm  and 
ridicule.     A  cutting  remark  is  never  forgotten  and  sel- 
dom forgiven. 

5.  Consent  cordially  and  gracefully,  but  let  your  refusals 
be  firm  and  absolute. 

6.  Be  courteous  and  polite;  you  can  more  easily  win 
children  by  kindness  than  drive  them  by  authority. 

7.  If  everything  seems  to  go  wrong  in  school,  it  is  quite 
probable  that  you  yourself  are  out  of  humor  or  out  of 
health. 

8.  You  will  commit  a  physical  sin  if  you  break  down 
your  health  and  induce  nervous  exhaustion  by  overwork, 
worry,  or  anxiety  about  your  scholars..   Your  first  and 
highest  duty  is  to  work  moderately,  sleep  long  and  sound- 
ly, and  keep  yourself  in  high  physical  condition  in  order 
to  do  the  greatest  amount  of  effective  work. 

9.  Bear  in  mind  that  your  chief  work,  beyond  impart- 
ing a  small  stock  of  specific  knowledge,  is  to  teach  your 
pupils  the  right  vmy  to  learn  for  themselves,  just  as  little 
children  are  taught  to  walk  in  order  that  they  may  go 
alone. 

10.  It  is  only  the  poorest  teachers  and  the  untrained 
ones  that  do  all  the  hard  work  for  their  pupils.     Agassiz 


90  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

* 

said  that  the  worst  service  a  teacher  could  render  to  a 
pupil  was  to  give  him  a  ready-made  answer. 

11.  The  best  teachers  are  those  whose  pupils  are  made 
daily  more  and  more  able  to  pursue  their  studies  without 
teachers,  and  whose  pupils  are  awakened  to  an  irresistible 
desire  to  know.     "  Instil  into  the  minds  of  your  pupils, 
if  you  can,"  says  Arthur  Helps,  "  a  love  and  a  desire  for 
knowledge.     What  a  triumph  it  is  for  you,  if,  while  he  is 
under  your  care,  you  influence  him  in  such  a  manner  that 
you  make  study  a  thing  of  delight  to  him!     And  what  a 
failure  it  is  if  he  throws  you  and  your  books  overboard 
as  soon  as  he  leaves  you !" 

12.  Beware  of  sacrificing  children  to  your  personal  am- 
bition.   "  There  is  no  hardness  of  heart,"  says  the  Eev.  Dr. 
Mayo,  "  like  that  of  the  teacher  infuriated  with  ambition 
for  the  mental  progress  of  a  child."     "Our  schools,"  says 
Eliot,  "are  for  our  pupils,  not  our  pupils  for  our  schools." 

13.  Make  use  of  the  stimulus  of  praise ;  but  use  it  spar- 
ingly, so  that  it  may  be  of  value  when  bestowed.     Given 
with  good  judgment,  commendation  is  a  powerful  agency ; 
but  prizes  and  distinctions  often  produce  the  worst  effects 
in  school.     Generous  emulation  is  good,  but  the  selfish 
pride  of  rivalry  is  bad. 

14.  While  it  is  your  policy  to  make  school  pleasant  for 
all,  and  to  make  school  studies  as  agreeable  as  possible, 
there  comes  a  time  when  the  older  pupils  must  be  trained 
to  face  drudgery  as  a  duty.     Then,  in  the  words  of  Bain, 
"  Try  to  measure  the  child's  power  to  support  the  strain 
of  forced  attention.     Begin  the  discipline  of  life  by  in- 
uring gradually  to  uninviting,  to  repugnant  and  severe 
occupation ;  but  see  also  that  you  have  at  command  the 
alternative  of  relaxation  with  enjoyment." 


THE  SCHOOLROOM.  91 


IV.  THE  CLASS  TEACHER. 

1.  With  beginners,  in  every  study,  the  first  processes 
must  be  learned  slowly  and  very  thoroughly  by  long-con- 
tinued iteration.     The  important  point  is,  not  how  much 
they  learn,  but  how  well  they  learn  it. 

2.  Make  the  text-book  subordinate  to  skilful  teaching. 
The  text-book  is  designed  only  as  an  aid  both  to  pupil 
and  teacher,  and  you  must  show  scholars  how  to  make 
the  best  possible  use  of  it.    Show  them  how  to  find  out 
the  meaning  of  a  printed  page;  but  bear  in  mind  the 
words  of  Spencer,  "  that  the  function  of  books  is  supple- 
mentary— a  means  of  seeing  through  other  men's  eyes 
what  you  cannot  see  for  yourself." 

3.  You  can  best  show  your  pupils  how  to  study  a  lesson 
by  going  over  it  with  them  in  advance,  calling  their  at- 
tention to  the  leading  facts,  and  vitalizing  dead  words  by 
the  living  voice.     In  many  lessons,  pupils  do  not  know 
what  to  study,  nor  how  to  study ;  it  is  a  part  of  your  duty 
to  direct  their  efforts.     "  There  is  no  harm,  but  good," 
says  Bain,  "  in  exacting  a  certain  amount  of  independent 
preparation,  especially  with  older  pupils ;  but  the  teacher's 
first  recitation,  and  the  final  iteration  during  the  lessons, 
are  the  principal  instrumentality  whereby  the  lesson  is 
fixed  in  the  memory;  the  learner's  own  studies  are  the 
smallest  contribution  to  the  effect" 

4.  If  you  expect  to  have  lessons  learned  at  all,  make 
them  short.    In  the  machine-work  of  graded  schools,  where 
text-books  are  crammed  by  pages,  this  principle  is  habit- 
ually violated. 

5.  As  a  rule,  when  conducting  a  class  exercise,  stand. 
If  you  are  too  weak  to  stand  all  the  time,  stand  occasion- 


92  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

ally.  Stand  where  you  can  see  the  face  of  every  scholar 
in  your  class  during  a  recitation.  "In  Germany,"  says 
Horace  Mann,  "I never  saw  a  teacher  hearing  a  recitation 
with  a  book  in  his  hand,  nor  a  teacher  sitting  while  hear- 
ing a  recitation." 

6.  Use  your  eyes.     Look  your  pupils  in  the  eye  when 
you  question  them,  and  make  them  look  you  in  the  eye 
when  they  answer. 

7.  Keep  your  voice  down  to  the  conversational  key.     A 
quiet  voice  is  music  in  the  schoolroom. 

8.  Make  up  your  mind  to  secure  and  hold  the  attention 
of  every  member  of  the  class.     A  lesson  has  never  been 
given  unless  it  has  been  received. 

9.  Lighten  up  your  class  with  a  pleasant  countenance. 
The  teacher  who  cannot  occasionally  join  in  a  hearty  laugh 
with  scholars  lacks  one  element  of  power.     "Whatever 
temper  you  have  suffered  to  grow  up  in  the  gradual  habit 
of  years,"  says  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Huntington,  "  that  wrill  get 
a  daily  revelation  over  your  desks  as  visible  as  any  maps 
on  the  walls." 

10.  Have  something  interesting  to  say  to  your  scholars 
at  every  recitation.     If  you  can  keep  your  pupils  busily 
at  work, you  will  have  but  little  trouble  about  order.    Keep 
your  pupils  on  the  alert  by  being  wide-awake  yourself. 

11.  In  general,  put  your  questions  to  the  whole  class,  in 
order  to  make  every  scholar  think  out  the  answer ;  then, 
after  a  pause,  call  upon  some  one  pupil  to  give  it. 

12.  Seldom  repeat  a  question.     Train  your  pupils  to  a 
habit  of  close  attention,  so  that  they  can  understand  what 
you  say  the  first  time  you  say  it. 

13.  Give  your  slow  scholars  time  to  think  ajid  speak. 
The  readiest  children  are  not  always  the  soundest  think- 


THE    SCIIOOLEOOM.  93 

ers.'  The  highest  praise  given  by  an  English  inspector  to 
a  teacher  was  "  that  he  allowed  his  slow  boys  time  to  wrig- 
gle out  an  answer" 

14.  Never  repeat  to  the  class  a  scholar's  half-audible  an- 
swer.    Compel  every  pupil  to  speak  loud  enough  to  be 
distinctly  understood  by  every  member  of  the  class. 

15.  Explain  when  necessary,  but  make  your  scholars  do 
a  part  of  the  talking.     Your  talk  should  consist  largely  of 
intelligent  questions.     "  The  best  instructors,"  says  Dies- 
terweg,  an  eminent  German  teacher,  "  do  not  talk  when 
it  is  the  scholar's  business  to  work'  therefore  the  good 
teacher  is  neither  talkative  nor  taciturn.     The  very  worst 
teachers  are  those  who  admire  their  own  talk" 

16.  Encourage  scholars  to  ask  questions,  but  do  not  an- 
swer them  yourself  until  after  you  have  given  the  class  an 
opportunity  to  answer. 

17.  Use  the  blackboard  yourself,  and  make  your  class 
use  it.      "  The   best    school,"  says  Prof.  J.  S.  Hart,  "  is 
founded  upon  chalk." 

18.  Train  your  scholars  to  recite  in  good  English,  but 
do  not  worry  them  by  interruptions  when  they  are  speak- 
ing.    Make  a  note  of  incorrect  or  inelegant  expressions, 
and  have  them  corrected  afterwards.     Do  not  expect  chil- 
dren to  speak  perfect  English,  and  do  not  become  over- 
precise  and  fussy  about  their  expressions. 

19.  When  pupils  stand  in  reciting,  insist  upon  an  erect 
attitude,  with  the  hands  clear  of  the  desk.     In  reading 
and  spelling,  call  out  your  classes  into  line,  so  as  to  secure 
a  relief  from  long-continued  sitting  at  desks. 

20.  Seldom  detain  pupils  after  school  to  study  imper- 
fectly recited  lessons.     It  is  a  physical  impossibility  for  a 
tired,  fretting,  obstinate,  hungry  child  to  do  good  thinking. 


94:  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

21.  Assign  but  few  lessons  to  be  learned  at  home.    Chil- 
dren must  have  time  to  work,  play,  eat,  sleep,  and  grow. 
Children  under  ten  years  of  age  ought  not  to  study  at  all 
out  of  school. 

22.  Your  chief  business  is,  to  make  pupils  think,  not  to 
think  for  them  ; ,  to  make  them  talk,  not  to  talk  for  them ; 
to  draw  out  their  powers,  not  to  display  your  own. 

23.  Point  out  to  your  scholars,  in  advance,  the  main 
facts  of  a  lesson,  so  that  they  may  not  fritter  away  their 
time  upon  unimportant  details.     Continue  this  until  your 
pupils  learn  how  to  discriminate  for  themselves  between 
chaff  and  wheajt. 

24.  Before  you   require  verbatim  definitions   or  con- 
densed generalizations,  make  sure  that  yo^ir  pupils  under- 
stand what  the  words  mean;  in  other  words,  base  memo- 
rized statements  upon  a  foundation  of  real  conceptions. 

25.  Train  your  scholars  to  hear  correctly,  and  to  repro- 
duce accurately  in  thought  and  language  what  has  been 
told  to  them.     "Scholars  will  learn  well  only  what  they 
arc  obliged  to  reproduce  and  tell,"  says  Diesterweg. 

26.  Keep  your  explanations  down  to  the  level  of  your 
scholars'  minds.     In  order  to  do  this,  bear  in  mind  your 
own  feeble  powers  and  limited  attainments  when  you  were 
no  older  than  your  pupils.     A  great  deal  of  teaching 
flies  "over  the  heads"  of  the  pupils.     You  must  learn  to 
talk  in  household  Anglo-Saxon,  such  as  men  use  in  busi- 
ness and  women  in  the  home. 

27.  Review  often  and  always  on  essential.     However 
well  anything  is  learned  for  the  time  being,  it  will  fade 
away  and  pass  into  oblivion  if  not  called  up  again  and 
again.     Repetition  is  absolutely  essential  to  habit,  skill, 
readiness,  thoroughness,  and  accuracy. 


THE   SCHOOLROOM.  95 

28.  Do  not  become  the  slave  of  routine  or  of  one  inflex- 
ible mechanical  system.  Stick  to  some  general  purpose 
and  plan,  but  secure  the  greatest  possible  variety  of  ways 
and  meang^. 

V.   METHODS    IN    RECITATIONS. 

,    1.  The  main  objects  of  the  recitation  are : 
(1.)  Instruction  imparted  by  the  teacher. 
(2.)  Mental  training  for  the  pupil. 
The  minor  objects  of  the  recitation  are : 
(1.)  To  induce  study. 
(2.)  To  test  preparation. 
(3.)  To  cultivate  expression. 
(4.)  To  correct  errors  or  mistakes. 
(5.)  To  awaken  inquiry. 

(6.)  To  form  habits  of  attention,  readiness,  and  self- 
possession. 

2.  Conduct   recitations   sometimes   by  questions,  and 
sometimes  by  topics. 

3.  Make  a  judicious  combination  of  oral  reciting  with 
written  work,  but  avoid  the  modern  error  of  making  writ- 
ing-machines out  of  your  pupils.     The  great  advantages 
of  oral  over  written  recitations  are,  (1)  the  cultivation  of 
readiness  of  expression,  (2)  that  pupils  learn  by  hearing 
one  another's  answers ;  and  (3)  that  the  teacher  becomes  a 
living  power  in  the  recitation. 

4.  Occasionally  let  your  pupils  question  one  another. 
It  will  do  them  as  much  good  to  ask  a  question  as  to  an- 
swer it. 

5.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  call  for  answers  by  making  use 
of  cards  having  the  names  of  the  class  members  written  on 
them.     If  you  call  pupils  in  regular  alphabetical  order,  or 
in  the  order  of  seats,  they  are  apt  to  be  somewhat  inatten- 


96  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 

tive  except  when  their  turn  comes;  if  you  question  at 
random,  you  will  always  have  a  strong  tendency  to  call  on 
the  best  and  readiest  scholars,  to  the  neglect  of  the  poor- 
est and  slowest  ones. 

6.  "Waste  as  little  time  as  possible  in  keeping  a  daily  ac- 
count of  recitation  credits.     You  ought  to  be  a  teacher^ 
not  merely  a  recording-clerk  of  text-book  questions  and 
answers.    ~No  teacher  can  do  his  best  at  instructing  when 
his  attention  is  diverted  by  jotting  down  credits.     The 
strong  tendency  in  graded  schools  to  run  into  excessive 
dependence  upon   question  and   answer  from  the  text- 
books springs  largely  from   the  undue  importance   at- 
tached to  credits  and  rank  in  marking.     Many  sensitive 
girls  are  kept  in  a  constant  worry  and  fret  on  account  of 
"checks"  in  recitations.     A  "check"  is  not  quite  so  bru- 
tal as  a  blow ;  but  the  effect  of  its  endless  dropping  is  often 
quite  as  bad  upon  the  disposition.    Besides,  if  all  the  half- 
hour  of  recitation  is  spent  in  putting  a  question  to  each 
pupil  in  order  to  "  mark  "  him,  there  is  no  time  left  to  ex- 
plain or  to  teach.     The  most  vital  work  done  in  a  class 
cannot  be  reduced  to  figures.     As  far  as  practicable,  sub- 
stitute the  results  of  weekly  or  monthly  oral  reviews  or 
short  written  examinations.     But  when  pupils  have  be- 
come demoralized  by  working  for  credits  for  several  years, 
it  will  not  do  to  discontinue  the  plan  suddenly.    Continue 
to  mark  for  some  recitations,  never  letting  your  pupils 
know  what  recitations  are  to  be  so  marked. 

7.  Pupils  attend  school,  not  merely  to  recite,  but  to  be 
instructed  and  aided  by  the  living  teacher.     Never  stop 
short  with  hearing  a  lesson ;  add  something  to  it ;  discuss 
it ;  talk  about  it,  even  though  you  cannot  reduce  the  talk 
to  percentage.     Go  over  the  ground  of  the  next  advance 


THE    SCHOOLROOM.  97 

lesson  orally  with  your  pupils,  instead  of  leaving  them  to 
master  it  alone.  Tell  them  enough  to  get  them  inter- 
ested in  it,  and  to  lead  them  to  discover  the  main  points. 
"  The  moment  you  drop  the  thick  veil  which  the  text-book 
interposes  between  your  pupil's  mind  and  yours,"  says  Pro- 
fessor J.  H.  Allen, "  and  deal  with  him  face  to  face,  you 
are  right  in  the  line,  and  are  doing  the  work  of  the  great 
teachers  of  the  world.  It  is  not  merely  because  Socrates, 
Plato,  and  Aristotle  were  great  men  themselves,  but  because 
they  happily  lived  before  text-books  were  invented,  and 
had  to  invent  their  methods  as  they  went  along — and  test 
them,  too,  as  they  went  along,  by  the  responses  they  got 
from  those  who  came  to  learn — that  their  great  original 
force  has  so  gone  out  upon  the  world  of  thought.  It  is  so, 
in  a  modester  way  and  in  a  lesser  degree,  as  soon  as  w.e 
take  the  same  course  with  them." 

8.  Do  not  confine  yourself  to  the  printed  questions  of 
the  text-book,  and  do  not  require  your  pupils  to  give  their 
answers  in  the  exact  words  of  the  text«book,  except  in  the 
case  of  important  rules  and  definitions  which  cannot  be 
accurately  and  concisely  expressed  in  other  language  than 
that  of  the  text-book.     Accept  the  pupil's  own  statement 
if  the  answer  is  in  good  English  and  is  substantially  right. 

9.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  once  said,  in  an  address  to 
teachers, "  If  a  pupil,  in  a  proper  manner,  doubt  the  cor- 
rectness of  your  statement  or  opinion,  and  a  discussion  fol- 
low, never  attempt  to  silence  him  by  your  mere  assertion, 
but  hear  his  reasons  patiently  and  pleasantly.     Welcome 
the  doubting  spirit  and  the  zeal  in  arguing  that  prove  the 
thinker.    Encourage  his  inquiries ;  and  if  he  convince  you 
that  you  are  wrong  and  that  he  is  right,  acknowledge  it 
cheerfully,  and — hug  him." 

5 


98  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

10.  Louis  Agassiz  said,  in  his  opening  address  to  one  of 
his  classes, 

"I  want  to  make  our  method  so  very  different  that  it 
may  appear  there  is  something  left  to  be  done  in  the  sys- 
tem adopted  in  our  public  schools.  I  think  that  pupils 
are  made  too  much  to  turn  their  attention  to  books,  and 
the  teacher  is  left  a  simple  machine  of  study.  That  should 
be  done  away  with  among  us.  I  shall  never  make  you  re- 
peat what  you  have  been  told,  hut  constantly  ask  you  what 
you  have  seen  yourselves" 

Sx-f» y 

VI.   THE    MINIMJUM    OF    RULES. 

1.  Never  attempt  to  teach  what  you  do  not  understand. 

2.  Never  tell  a  child  what  you  can  make  that  child  tell 
you. 

3.  Never  give  apiece  of  information  without  ashing  the 
children  to  repeat  it. 

4.  Never  use  a  hard  word  when  an  easy  one  will  answer. 

5.  Never  make  a  rule  you  do  not  rigidly  enforce. 

6.  Never  give  an  unnecessary  command. 

7.  Never  permit  a  child  to  remain  in  the  class  without 
something  to  do. 

VII.    SPECIFIC    DIRECTIONS    FOR    PUPILS. 

NOTE. — Read  these  directions  to  your  pupils,  and  make  each  di- 
rection the  topic  of  a  short  informal  talk. 

1.  Stand  erect  when  reading  or  reciting,  without  touch- 
ing the  desk  with  your  hands. 

2.  Open  your  mouth  in  speaking,  and  speak  clearly, 
loudly,  and  distinctly. 

3.  Answer  in  full  sentences,  and  try  to  use  good  Eng- 
lish. 


THE   SCHOOLROOM.  99 

4.  In  all  examinations,  whether  written  or  oral,  be  hon- 
est and  honorable,  never  prompting  others,  nor  allowing 
others  to  aid  you. 

5.  Study,  not  so  much  for  credits  as  for  knowledge. 

6.  Do  not  study  later  than  eight  or  nine  o'clock,  and, 
when  sick,  do  not  study  at  all. 

7.  For  most  scholars,  one  hour's  study  in  the  morning 
is  worth  two  in  the  evening. 

8.  Give  your  undivided  attention  to  whatever  work  you 
try  to  do. 

9.  When  your  eyes  ache,  stop  studying. 

10.  If  you  wish  to  become  a  good  scholar,  take  care  of 
your  health.    By  a  judicious  interchange  of  work  and  play, 
study  and  recreation,  avoid  breaking  down. 

11.  Do  your  own  work,  and  do  not  meddle  with  the  af- 
fairs of  your  classmates. 

12.  Remember  that  your  success  in  school  as  well  as  in 
life  depends  mainly  upon  patient  industry  and  hard  work. 

13.  Remember  that  you  should  learn  your  lessons  for 
your  own  benefit,  not  because  your  teacher  requires  you 
to  learn  them.    "When  you  fail  to  do  your  work,  you  cheat, 
not  your  teacher,  but  yourself. 

VIII.   DIRECTIONS    ABOUT    WRITTEN    EXAMINATIONS. 

1.  Do  not  be  in  a  hurry.     Take  time  to  read  every 
question  carefully,  so  that  you  may  be  sure  to  answer  just 
what  is  asked,  and  nothing  else. 

2.  Work  slowly  and  thoughtfully.     Think  out  your  an- 
swers, and  condense  them  into  the  fewest  wrords  possible. 

3.  If  you  come  to  a  puzzling  question,  pass  it  by  until 
you  have  answered  the  rest,  and  then  turn  back  to  it  when 
you  are  not  pressed  for  time. 


100  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

4.  Write  neatly  and  legibly,  and  punctuate  as  you  write. 
Separate  your  answers  by  a  space,  so  that  the  examiner 
may  distinguish  each  without  confusion. 

5.  After  you  have  completed  a  paper,  go  over  it  carelul 
ly  with  reference  to  accuracy,  expression,  spelling,  punctu 
ation,  and  capitals. 


THE   MANAGEMENT  OF   UNGRADED   COUNTRY   SCHOOLS.    101 
OF  THE  \ 

VNIYERSfTr   ) 
or 

^«.VV4/   If: 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  UNGRADED  COUNTRY  SCHOOLS. 

I.    GENERAL    REMARKS. 

IT  requires  tact,  skill,  originality,  and  common-sense -to 
manage  successfully  an  ungraded  country  school.  In  the 
graded  schools  of  town  and  city,  the  course  of  instruction 
is  definitely  laid  down  in  printed  manuals;  the  work  of 
each  successive  grade  is  directed  by  principal  and  super- 
intendent ;  the  results  are  tested  by  written  examinations ; 
and  each  class-teacher  is  only  a  cog  in  a  complicated  sys- 
tem of  wheels.  But  in  the  country  school  the  teacher 
combines  the  functions  of  assistant,  principal,  examiner, 
and  superintendent.  He  is  an  autocrat,  limited  only  by 
custom,  precedent,  and  text-books. 

"When  we  consider  that  about  one  half  of  all  the  scKool 
children  hi  our  country  receive  their  elementary  education 
in  the  district  schools,  their  importance  as  a  part  of  our 
school  system  is  obvious.  Many  of  these  schools  in  the 
sparsely  settled  districts  are  kept  open  only  from  three  to 
six  months  in  the  year,  and  even  then  the  attendance  is 
irregular.  The  whole  schooling  of  many  children,  from 
the  age  of  five  to  fifteen,  hardly  amounts  to  four  years  of 
unbroken  school  attendance.  In  such  schools  and  for  such 
pupils,  what  instruction  will  best  fit  the  children  for  their 
life-duties  ?  "What  knowledge  is  of  most  worth  to  them  ? 
"What  things  are  essential  ? 


102  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 

Now  a  man  or  woman  gifted  with  sound  common-sense 
will  look  at  the  work  somewhat  in  this  way :  These  boys 
are  the  sons  of  farmers,  mechanics,  miners,  and  working- 
men  ;  most  of  them  will  follow  the  occupations  of  their 
fathers.  The  girls — most  of  them — will  become  the  wives 
of  farmers,  mechanics,  miners,  and  workingmen,  and  will 
"  keep  house."  What  are  the  essential  things  that  these 
boys  and  girls  need  to  learn  in  order  to  aid  them  to  be- 
come industrious  and  intelligent  men  and  women,  fitted 
for  their  sphere  in  life  ?  The  prodigies  and  geniuses  and 
exceptional  cases  are  not  to  be  taken  into  account  at  all. 

It  requires  decisive  firmness  to  clear  away  the  rubbish 
of  a  superficial  education  and  get  down  to  a  solid  basis. 
There  is  no  mistaking  the  fact  that  a  great  deal  of  our 
current  school  education,  like  the  ornamental  tattooing  of 
the  South  Sea  Islanders,  is  only  skin-deep,  and  is  valuable 
only  as  fashionable  ornamental  work.  To  a  certain  ex- 
tent, every  teacher  must  perhaps  yield  to  the  prevailing 
customs,  and  decorate  his  pupils  with  educational  paints 
and  feathers;  but  there  is  still  some  room  left  for  the 
exercise  of  sound  judgment.  As  an  axiom,  we  may  safe- 
ly take  this  statement  of  John  Stuart  Mill :  WIIE  AIM  OF 

ALL  INTELLECTUAL  TRAINING  FOE  THE  MASS  OF  THE  PEOPLE 
SHOULD  BE  TO  CULTIVATE  COMMON-SENSE.^/ 

In  the  country  school  leave  untouched  the  things  you 
have  not  time  to  teach  nor  your  pupils  the  talents  to  learn. 
Leave  out  a  smattering  of  non-essentials,  in  order  that  your 
scholars  may  be  thorough  in  essentials. 

"  There  can  be  no  other  curricular  arrangement,"  says 
Bain,  "even  for  the  laboring  population,  than  to  give 
them  as  much  methodized  knowledge  of  the  physical  and 
the  moral  world,  and  as  much  literary  training,  as  their 


THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   UNGRADED   COUNTRY   SCHOOLS.    103 

time  will  allow.  About  two  thirds  of  the  day,  as  a  rule, 
might  be  given  to  knowledge,  and  one  third  to  literature 
— music,  drill,  and  gymnastics  being  counted  apart  from 
both." 

'      II.   THINGS    ESSENTIAL. 

ils  must  be  trained  to  read  and  write  their  mother- 
tongue  correctly  r\ 

Teach  them  to  do  this  so  that  every  scholar,  at  fifteen 
years  of  age,  shall  be  able  to  read  a  newspaper  readily ; 
shall  be  able  to  spell  common  words  correctly;  shall  be 
able  to  converse  free  from  provincialisms  in  pronuncia- 
tion ;  shall  be  able  to  write  a  legible  letter  in  correct  Eng- 
lish. In  reading,  teach  them  not  merely  to  pronounce 
words,  but  to  get  at  the  meaning  of  what  they  read. 
There  must  be  no  sham  scholarship  here.  Good  spelling 
is  a  conventional  test  of  education,  and  even  a  spelling- 
lesson  may  be  made  the  means  of  valuable  mental  train- 
ing. 

%\They  must  'be  trained,  in  arithmetic,  to  work,  accurate- 
ly and  readily,  examples  in  the  "four  rules  /"  to  work  bus- 
iness examples  in  common  and  decimal fr  actions  ;  to  reckon 
simple  interest ;  and  to  write  bills,  receipts,  and  promissory 
notes.  _J> 

In  most  country  schools  the  pupils  throw  away  a  great 
deal  of  time  in  "  going  through,"  term  after  term,  bulky 
text-books  on  arithmetic,  filled  to  repletion  with  school- 
masters' puzzles  about  things  unknown  in  real  life,  and 
crammed  with  technical  "rules,"  which  are  learned  only 
to  be  forgotten.  Concentrate  your  drill  upon  the  four 
rules,  fractions,  the  tables,  and  interest,  and  thus  give  your 
pupils  the  mental  training  which  will  enable  them  to  do 
a  few  essential  things  skilfully,  accurately,  and  readily. 


104  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

None  of  your  pupils  need  to  study  such  schoolmasterisms 
as  "allegation,"  "duodecimals,"  "circulating  decimals," 
"permutation,"  "single  and  double  position;"  and  few 
except  the  big  boys  who  have  nothing  else  to  do  need 
waste  time  upon  "compound  proportion,"  "reduction  as- 
cending and  descending,"  "  true  discount,"  "  bonds,"  "  ex- 
Change,"  "insurance,"  "equation  of  payments,"  "partner- 
ship," "arithmetical  progression,"  "geometrical  progres- 
sion," "  custom-house  business,"  "  annuities,"  etc.  Omit 
these,  and  you  may  find  time  to  give  short  lessons  in  the 
elements  of  natural  science,  and  to  open  the  eyes  of  your 
pupils  to  the  wonders  of  the  world  around  them. 

It  is  true  that  many  country  schoolmasters  still  contend 
that  the  reasoning  faculties  of  a  pupil  cannot  be  properly 
disciplined  unless  he  devotes  half  his  school-days  to  ab- 
struse logical  analysis,  as  they  choose  to  call  it,  of  use- 
less problems,  worse  than  Chinese  puzzles,  involving  only 
blind  adherence  to  rule,  or  still  blinder  imitation  ;  but  the 
real  truth  is  that  mental  discipline  in  the  study  of  arith- 
metic is  not  one  whit  more  valuable  than  is  hard  think- 
ing upon  other  school  studies. 

No  mental  work  of  an}7  kind,  rightly  done,  is  utterly 
useless;  but  the  real  question  is,  not  what  is  good,  but 
what,  under  the  circumstances,  is  best,  and  how  much,  and 
when.  "  Get  your  discipline,"  says  Chadbourne,  "  by  do- 
ing a  greater  amount  of  work,  and  doing  it  in  better  style." 
A  wealthy  merchant  once  set  his  son  to  wheeling  stones 
from  one  corner  of  his  garden  to  the  other,  in  order  to  train 
him  to  work.  He  was  wiser  than  the  man  who  never  makes 
his  boy  work  at  all ;  but  he  would  have  been  wiser  still 
had  he  kept  his  son  at  work  sawing  wood  or  laying  out  a 
garden,  or  weeding  the  onion-bed  or  hoeing  potatoes. 


THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   UNGRADED   COUNT11Y   SCHOOLS.   105 

Now  in  country  schools,  a  great  many  boys  and  girls 
are  kept  at  wheeling  educational  stones.  A  teacher  who 
keeps  young  pupils  at  work,  term  after  term,  upon  com- 
plex or  puzzling  problems  in  mental  arithmetic,  repeating 
long-drawn-out  formulas  in  logical  analysis,  including 
statement,  solution,  and  conclusion,  before  they  have  ac- 
quired readiness  and  accuracy  in  addition  and  multipli- 
cation, is  only  making  them  wheel  stones.  A  country 
teaclier  who  neglects  "  the  four  rules  "  and  "  the  tables  " 
in  order  to  train  big  country  boys  upon  a  normal-school 
analytical  demonstration  of  the  reason  for  inverting  the 
divisor  in  division  of  fractions  is  wheeling  stones ;  and  if, 
added  to  this,  he  requires  allegation,  exchange,  and  pro- 
gression, he  is  wheeling  glacial  boulders.  Avoid  making 
a  hobby  of  arithmetic  and  algebra.  Two  hundred  years 
ago,  Roger  Ascharn,  in  The  Scholemaster,  wrote  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Mark  all  Mathematical  heads,  which  be  only  and 
wholly  bent  to  those  Sciences,  how  solitary  they  be  them- 
selves, how  unfit  to  live  with  others,  and  how  unapt  to 
serve  in  the  world."  And  a  modern  educator,  Superin- 
tendent Eliot,  of  Boston,  says  now,  "  A  faculty  to  be  called 
out  by  the  knowledge  of  numbers  and  their  relations  is 
too  often  stupefied  by  the  drugs  substituted  for  them." 

In  his  unsurpassed  paper  on  Waste  of  Labor  in  the  Work 
of  Education,  President  Chadbourne  truthfully  says, 

"  The  principle  of  dealing  with  essentials  mainly  should 
prevail  in  all  the  work  of  education.  We  have  too  much 
to  do  to  spend  time  fooling  over  complicated  arithmetical 
puzzles  which  abound  in  some  books — questions  which  no 
one  should  undertake  to  solve  till  well  versed  in  algebra 
and  geometry.  At  the  proper  stage  of  education,  such 
puzzles,  which  are  a  discouragement  to  the  young  scholar, 

XtTa"'     5* 
or  THE    ] 

k  VNIVER8ITV   ) 

or  J 


106  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

because  he  thinks  them  essential  to  the  subject,  will  be 
solved  in  the  natural  progress  of  his  work.  They  are  an 
annoyance  and  discouragement  simply  because  they  are 
introduced  before  their  time,  before  the  study  of  the  prin- 
ciples on 'which  their  solution  depends." 

r~  3.  They  should  acquire  a  good  general  "knowledge  of 

* geograpliyTj 

In  order  to  do  this,  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  that  boys 
and  girls  should  be  compelled,  day  after  day,  and  term 
after  term,  and  year  after  year,  to  memorize  the  dreary 
pages  of  "  map  questions "  that  crowd  the  three  padded 
books  in  a  series  of  geographies.  If  any  teachers  of  coun- 
try schools,  or  indeed  of  any  schools  anywhere  on  this 
planet,  require  their  pupils  to  learn  by  heart  one  tenth  of 
the  boundaries,  cities,  towns,  villages,  rivers,  mountains, 
capes,  bays,  and  microscopic  bits  of  topography  included 
under  the  head  of  "Map  Lessons"  in  the  books;  or  to 
learn  by  rote  one  twentieth  of  the  stereotyped  descrip- 
tions of  countries  and  their  inhabitants;  or  one  hun- 
dredth of  the  dry  census  statistics  of  the  States  even  of 
our  own  country  about  bushels  of  corn,  wheat,  rye,  barley, 
oats,  beans,  pease,  and  potatoes ;  or  the  value  of  the  annual 
crops  of  cotton,  tobacco,  sugar,  rice,  hemp,  and  hay;  or 
the  value  of  manufactured  articles,  such  as  boots  and  shoes, 
cotton  cloth,  hardware ;  or  the  annual  catch  of  mackerel 
and  codfish — statistics  in  which  text-books  abound — such 
teachers  ought  to  be  indicted  for  a  lack  of  common-sense. 
No  reasonable  human  being  expects  even  a  schoolmaster, 
who  has  studied  and  taught  geography  half  a  lifetime, 
to  know,  without  looking  on  the  book,  the  entire  returns 
of  the  last  census,  or  the  exact  population  of  every  city 
in  the  world,  or  the  length  of  every  river,  or  the  height 


THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   UNGRADED   COUNTRY   SCHOOLS.    107 

in  feet  of  every  mountain-peak,  or  the  boundary-line  of 
every  State  in  the  Union  and  every  country  in  the  world, 
or  the  exact  distance  in  miles  from  Ujiji  to  Walla- Walla. 
Is  it  reasonable,  then,  to  attempt  to  make  boys  and  girls 
master  this  chaos  of  facts?  The  plain  truth  is  that  no 
small  part  of  what  children  are  forced  to  cram  at  school, 
not  only  in  geography,  but  also  in  other  branches,  might 
appropriately  be  labelled  THINGS  WOETH  FORGETTING  ! 
Nature  is  wiser  than  teachers  and  text-book-makers ;  she 
casts  on:  the  dead  and  waste  matter  and  saves  the  child. 

Cut  out  of  your  text-book  on  geography,  then,  all  but 
essentials.  Cross  out  all  local  State  geography  except  that 
of  the  pupil's  own  State. 

Read  the  descriptive  text,  and  mark,  now  and  then, 
something  to  be  put  away  in  the  storehouse  of  memory. 
Use  the  scalpel  with  merciless  severity.  "  It  takes  a  brave 
man,"  says  President  Chadbourne,  "  one  merciless  to  him- 
self, to  make  a  small,  simple,  but  thorough  text-book ;  but 
such  text-books  we  must  have,  if  we  use  them  at  all." 

4,_  They  should  be  trained  in  writing  and  in  speaking 
good  English,  and  should  learn  the  elements  of  grammar. 

The  technical  study  of  grammar  should  be  preceded  by 
a  course  of  elementary  exercises  in  "  Language  Lessons," 
such  as  are  found  in  modern  text-books,  notably  in  Swin- 
ton's  Language  Primer.  Children  learn  to  swim  by  try- 
ing to  swim,  to  skate  by  skating,  to  talk  by  talking,  and 
to  write  by  writing.  They  cannot  be  trained  to  speak  or 
to  write  correctly  by  parsing  according  to  Latinized  for- 
mulas. They  will  never  learn  to  construct  a  good  sen- 
tence by  analyzing  complex  or  compound  sentences,  or 
by  memorizing  and  repeating  the  rules  of  syntax,  though 
this  method  be  followed  until  they  grow  gray. 


108  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

Require  at  least  two  short  composition  exercises  a  week, 
on  slates  or  paper,  upon  subjects  about  which  the  pupils 
know  something. 

Let  them  write  about  farming,  about  animals,  birds, 
fishes,  flowers,  trees.  Read  them  short  stories,  and  require 
them  to  be  reproduced  in  writing.  Let  them  write  short 
biographical  sketches  of  great  men.  Let  them  make  com- 
positions about  their  history  and  geography  lessons;  and 
then  let  the  older  pupils  correct  the  compositions  of  the 
younger  ones,  and  the  younger  ones  read  those  of  the 
older  ones  as  models. 

"Nothing  is  of  more  value  in  education,"  says  Buxton, 
"  than  this,  to  make  a  point  of  opening  the  child's  eyes  to 
take  an  interest  in  the  world  around  him.  Teach  him,  if 
a  country  boy,  to  know  the  birds,  their  nests,  eggs,  and 
notes ;  the  wild  animals,  their  haunts  and  habits ;  the  do- 
mestic animals,  their  nature,  peculiarities,  and  various 
breeds ;  the  flowers ;  the  trees ;  the  insects ;  the  different 
soils.  You  can  do  this  at  mere  odds  and  ends  of  time, 
and  you  have  opened  springs  of  pure  enjoyment  in  his 
soul." 

Require  all  pupils  over  eight  years  of  age  to  write  at 
least  one  short  letter  a  week,  until  they  can  write  it  in 
due  form,  punctuate  it,  capitalize  it,  spell  correctly  every 
word  they  use  in  it,  fold  it  neatly,  and  direct  it.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  pupils  over  twelve  years  of  age  ought  to  be 
able  to  express  their  thoughts  in  well  -  constructed  sen- 
tences. After  this  is  done,  let  the  big  boys  and  girls  take 
to  parsing  and  analysis,  which  are  good  enough  exercises 
at  the  right  time.  From  a  text-book  let  them  learn  the 
chief  "rules  of  syntax"  and  the  technical  distinctions  of 
etymology.  If  the  text-book  in  use  is  a  good  one,  omit 


THE    MANAGEMENT   OF    UNGRADED    COUNTRY    SCHOOLS.    109 

two  thirds  of  it,  and  give  out  the  remainder  in  substantial 

lessons  to  be  learned  by  heart ;  if  it  be  a  poor  one,  of  the 

antique  Latinized  type,  deal  it  out  in  homoeopathic  doses. 

I       5.  They  should  have  a  good  general  knowledge  of  the 

*""  leading  events  in  the  history  of  our  own  country.  _^ 

l>ut  do  not  compel  the  memorizing  of  three  or  four 
hundred  pages  of  dates  and  details  which  no  teacher  liv- 
ing could  stow  into  his  head  in  a  lifetime,  and  which,  if 
learned,  would  be  next  to  worthless.  Let  your  pupils 
read  the  text-book  aloud  in  the  class ;  then  it  is  your 
business  to  winnow  out  the  three  grains  of  wheat  from 
the  bushel  of  chaff,  and  tell  them  what  to  mark  as  fit  to 
be  learned.  You  must  supplement  the  text-book  with 
stories,  anecdotes,  incidents,  and  well -selected  extracts. 
Make  use  of  the  school  library  as  an  assistant.  The  real 
spirit  of  history  does  not  consist  in  dates  and  details. 
"My  grandfather's  stories  about  his  service  as  a  private 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,"  said  a  noted  teacher,  "  made 
history  a  living  reality  to  me." 

Narrative  and  biography  make  the  life  of  history  to 
the  young. 

<CJ}.  They  ought  to  be  trained  to  habits  of  careful  obser- 
vation; or,  in  other  words,  they  ought  to  acquire  some 
'knowledge  of  common  tilings  in  the  phenomena  of  nat- 
ure. ^7 

And  right  here  the  good  teacher  will  do  his  best  work, 
drawing  out  of  his  young  pupils  all  they  know  of  the 
world  around  them,  directing  their  attention,  indicating 
relations  and  harmonies,  and  encouraging  every  effort  to 
increase  their  knowledge.  Here  the  teacher  is  everything, 
books  nothing.  "We  teach  too  much  by  manuals;  too 
little  by  direct  intercourse  with  the  pupil's  mind ;  we 


110  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

have  too  much  of  words,  too  little  of  things,"  said  Daniel 
Webster,  who,  though  but  a  short  time  a  teacher,  well 
understood  the  American  school  system.  Excite  in  your 
pupils  a  burning  desire  to  learn ;  inspire  them  with  mo- 
tives. "  The  primary  principle  of  education,"  says  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  "  is  the  determination  of  the  pupil  to 
self -activity." 

7.  They  must  learn  to  practise  the  principles  and  pre- 
"'  cepts  of  morality.  __ 

It  is  not  necessary  that  they  study  ethics  as  a  science,  or 
religion  as  theology.  What  they  most  need  is  that  plain 
preceptive  morality  which  is  diffused  among  the  people 
as  their  best  rules  of  action  in  their  daily  life.  You  can- 
not mould  character  or  form  good  habits  by  dealing  out 
hackneyed  commonplaces,  or  by  merely  repeating  maxims. 
The  art  cannot  be  conveyed  to  you  in  condensed  direc- 
tions or  taught  in  twelve  easy  lessons.  It  must  be  an 
outgrowth  of  your  own  life  and  character,  your  own  ob- 
servation and  experience  combined  with  the  best  thoughts 
you  glean  from  books  and  men. 

III.    MISCELLANEOUS    THINGS. 

Physiology  is  not  an  essential  text-book  study,  but  it  is 
necessary  that  your  pupils  should  know  something  about 
the  laws  of  health  in  relation  to  diet,  sleep,  air,  exercise, 
work,  play,  and  rest.  Teach  your  pupils  that  sickness  is 
the  penalty  of  violated  laws ;  that  bad  habits  are  physical 
sins;  that  bad  health,  unless  hereditary,  is  the  result  of 
carelessness  or  ignorance.  All  this  you  can  do  without 
a  text-book. 

For  the  right  training  of  the  perceptive  faculties,  you 
must  give  elementary  lessons  in  physics,  botany,  and  other 


THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   UNGRADED   COUNTRY    SCHOOLS.    Ill 

natural  sciences.  Country  boys  and  girls  generally  have 
a  considerable  stock  of  crude  knowledge,  picked  up  em- 
pirically by  their  own  observation,  about  animals,  plants, 
and  the  phenomena  of  every-day  life.  Draw  out  this 
fragmentary  store  of  facts,  and  supplement  it  by  the  facts 
of  science.  Set  the  girls  to  collecting  and  pressing  flow- 
ers. Let  the  boys  bring  in  specimens  of  minerals,  shells, 
woods,  and  grains  for  a  school  cabinet.  Open  their  eyes 
to  the  harmonies  of  nature.  Teachers  are  apt  to  deal  too 
much  with  books  and  too  little  with  things ;  they  mistake 
shadow  for  substance.  Do  not  depend  too  much  on  me- 
chanical "mental  discipline,*'  or  too. little  on  direct  infor- 
mation. A  great  part  of  teaching  is  avowedly  empirical, 
desultory,  utilitarian.  To  acquire  information  is  a  mental 
exercise  of  no  mean  order.  If  you  can  only  find  out  the 
secret,  you  can  make  your  whole  school  alive  to  know ; 
but  the  secret  cannot  be  conveyed  in  set  rules.  If  you 
are  nothing  but  a  bookworm,  you  will  never  learn  the 
art. 

If  possible,  have  some  singing,  and  drawing  for  those 
who  have  any  taste  for  it.  If  there  is  a  school  library, 
make  good  use  of  it  by  selecting  suitable  books  for  your 
pupils  to  read,  and  by  questioning  them  about  what  they 
read.  Many  a  dull  boy,  lazy  and  listless  over  his  lessons, 
has  been  made  alive  by  good  story-books.  If  you  have 
tact,  good-nature,  and  firmness,  you  need  not  have  much 
trouble  about  order,  discipline,  or  government.  Win  the 
good- will  of  the  older  scholars,  and  they  will  become  your 
assistants  in  governing. 

Keep  in  mind  this  central  fact,  that  in  country  schools 
certain  leading  results  must  be  obtained,  even  at  the  sacri- 
fice of  ornament  and  system.  Only  concentration  can 


112  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

give  strength.  Make  your  pupils  learn  well  the  things 
they  most  need  in  the  common  walks  of  life,  without  re- 
gard to  changes  in  educational  fashions.  Feathers  and 
iinery  you  do  not  need.  Do  not  waste  your  time  in 
striving  after  the  impossible.  You  cannot,  however  hard 
you  may  try,  educate  beyond  the  barriers  fixed  by  nature 
and  surrounding  circumstances.  You  will  find  some  slow 
scholars,  and  some  dull  ones ;  some  with  strong  latent 
powers,  and  others  the  reverse  ;  some  stubborn  and  others 
pliant,  some  good  and  others  bad.  If  you  are  gifted  with 
sound  judgment  and  good  common-sense,  you  will  work 
on  calmly,  faithfully,  hopefully,  good-naturedly,  disciplin- 
ing the  troublesome,  taming  the  savage,  bearing  in  mind 
that  all  the  dull  boys  and  careless  girls  will,  somehow  or 
other,  grow  up  into  better  men  and  women  than  you  dare 
hope  for.  Take  comfort  from  the  words  that  quaint  old 
Thomas  Fuller  wrote  two  centuries  ago  : 

"  Wines,  the  stronger  they  be,  the  more  lees  they  have 
when  they  are  new.  Many  boys  are  muddy-headed  till 
they  be  clarified  with  age ;  and  such  afterwards  proved  the 
best.  Bristol  diamonds  are  both  bright  and  squared  and 
pointed  by  nature,  and  yet  are  soft  and  worthless ;  whereas 
Orient  ones  in  India  are  rough  and  rugged  naturally. 
Hard,  rugged,  and  dull  natures  in  youth  acquit  themselves 
afterwards  the  jewels  of  the  country ;  and  therefore  their 
dulness  at  first  is  to  be  borne  with,  if  they  be  diligent. 
The  schoolmaster  deserves  to  be  beaten  himself  who  beats 
nature  in  a  boy  for  a  fault.  And  I  question  whether  all 
the  whipping  in  the  world  can  make  their*  parts  who  are 
naturally  sluggish  rise  one  minute  before  the  hour  nature 
hath  appointed.  All  the  whetting  in  the  world  can  never 
set  a  razor's  edge  on  that  which  hath  no  steel  in  it." 


THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   UNGRADED   COUNTRY    SCHOOLS.   113 

Add  this  consolatory  statement  by  Emerson:  "Nature 
makes  fifty  poor  melons  for  one  that  is  good,  and  shakes 
down  a  tree-full  of  gnarled,  wormy,  unripe  crabs,  before 
you  can  iind  a  dozen  dessert  apples." 

IV.    MINOR    MATTERS. 

The  arrangement  and  length  of  recitations  are  matters 
of  judgment  to  be  modified  according  to  conditions. 
When  one  class  is  reciting,  set  the  others  about  some  spe- 
cific piece  of  work  at  their  desks.  The  very  youngest 
children  should  have  two  short  reading  and  spelling  les- 
sons daily ;  the  middle  classes  one  lesson,  and  the  highest 
class  two  lessons,  a  week.  It  is  poor  economy  to  hear 
your  advanced  classes  recite  daily  lessons  in  all  their 
studies.  The  few  advanced  pupils  ought  not  to  monopo- 
lize your  attention.  Assign  all  your  older  pupils  good 
solid  lessons  to  be  learned  at  home ;  for  children  who  at- 
tend school  only  a  part  of  the  year  cannot  easily  be  over- 
taxed with  brain -work.  Train  them  to  depend  upon 
themselves,  and  to  find  out  things  by  hard  thinking.  In 
recitations,  your  explanations  and  illustrations  must  be 
condensed,  for  your  time  is  limited.  It  is  one  of  the  de- 
fects of  graded  city  schools  that  teachers  talk  too  much 
and  do  most  of  the  thinking  for  their  pupils.  Country 
scholars  who  enter  the  city  high -school  generally  come 
out  ahead  because  they  have  habits  of  self-reliance,  and 
know  how  to  learn  from  books. 

Give  the  children  under  eight  years  of  age  long  recesses 
for  play ;  they  ought  not  to  be  shut  up  in  school  more 
than  two  or  three  hours  a  day.  In  pleasant  weather,  after 
they  read  and  spell,  turn  them  out  of  doors. 

When  you  take  charge  of  a  new  school,  adopt,  at  first, 


114:  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

the  classification  and  order  of"  exercises  of  your  predeces« 
sor ;  if  changes  are  needed,  make  them  by  degrees  after 
you  know  the  needs  of  the  school.  Beware  of  turning 
your  pupils  back  to  the  "  beginning  of  the  book,"  as  if 
you  took  it  for  granted  they  knew  nothing  at  all.  Rather, 
let  them  go  on,  and  review  when  necessary.  Still,  if  you 
happen  to  find  a  set  of  scholars  taught  by  unskilled 
"school-keepers,"  you  must  act  on  this  axiom  from  the 
great  German  educator  Niemeyer,  "Pupils  who  have 
been  injured  by  wrong  modes  of  instruction,  and  by 
an  injurious  multiplicity  of  studies,  must  be  taught  in 
almost  all  the  elementary  branches  as  if  they  were  begin- 
ners" 

On  the  morning  of  the  first  day,  that  crucial  test  of  the 
teacher,  introduce  yourself  by  a  few  good-natured  remarks, 
distribute  slips  of  paper  on  which  the  scholars  are  to  write 
their  names,  age,  class,  and  studies,  and,  having  collected 
these,  proceed  at  once  to  business  by  giving  out  a  sheet 
of  paper  to  all  who  can  use  a  pen,  and  requiring  them  to 
write  a  composition  about  their  last  vacation.  This  will 
keep  them  at  work  an  hour  at  least,  during  which  time 
you  can  attend  to  the  little  ones,  and  make  out  your  rough 
programme.  The  art  of  the  first  day  is  to  keep  your 
scholars  busy.  You  will  avoid  much  mischief  by  getting 
everybody  hard  at  work  in  ten  minutes  after  school  opens. 
If  you  know  how  to  tell  a  good  story,  close  school  with 
one ;  if  not,  read  one  from  some  book. 

Make  no  reflections  on  the  former  teacher,  and  allow 
none  to  be  made  by  your  scholars.  If  the  people  of  your 
district  are  old-fashioned,  introduce  normal-school  meth- 
ods by  degrees  after  you  have  won  over  your  pupils.  Be 
careful  of  what  you  say;  any  inadvertent  remark  made 


THE   MANAGEMENT   OF   TJNGKADED   COUNTRY   SCHOOLS.   115 

in  a  moment  of  passion  will  be  taken  home  by  twenty 
tongues,  and  discussed  in  cold  blood  at  twenty  family 
supper-tables.  A  short  call  at  the  homes  of  your  pupils 
will  convince  the  old  folks  that  the  young  teacher  "isn't 
stuck  up,"  will  disarm  prejudice,  and  conciliate  the  young 
folks. 

Find  out  the  two  or  three  ruling  families  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  make  friends  of  them.  Attend  social  gath- 
erings whenever  you  are  invited ;  the  young  folks  like  a 
human  teacher.  Bring  the  public  opinion  of  the  district 
over  to  your  side,  and  you  cannot  make  a  failure  in 
school. 

V.    ADVANTAGES    OF    COUNTRY    SCHOOLS. 

For  a  young  teacher,  whether  man  or  woman,  there  is 
no  better  school  of  practice  than  an  ungraded  country 
school.  'Nor  should  its  educational  advantages  for  pupils 
be  underrated.  In  the  long  race  of  life,  boys  educated 
in  country  schools  do  actually  come  out  ahead  of  those 
ground  out  by  the  graded  machinery  of  the  city  school. 
Perhaps  one  reason  for  this  is  that  the  country  boy  com- 
bines physical  training  with  mental.  During  a  part  of 
the  year,  he  works  on  the  farm,  and  gets,  not  only  muscu- 
lar strength.  l)ut  a  habit  of  work.  He  goes  back  to  school 
with  a  keen  relish  for  study,  and  a  habit  of  steady  appli- 
cation. One  day  of  hard  work  at  ditching  in  his  father's 
meadow  made  John  Adams  begin  to  be  a  good  student 
of  Latin.  Hard  work  on  his  father's  farm,  from  sunrise 
to  sunset,  hoeing  corn,  or  haying,  or  digging  potatoes,  has 
made  school-life  seem  a  play-spell  to  many  a  boy,  and  has 
laid  the  foundation  of  habits  that  have  led  to  brilliant  suc- 
cess in  mental  work.  The  trouble  with  most  city  boys  is 
that  they  have  no  work  to  do  out  of  school,  and  they  never 


116  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

learn  what  labor  means  until  school  life  is  over.  My  ob- 
servation as  principal  of  an  evening  school  of  a  thousand 
boys,  for  three  years,  convinced  me  that  many  of  the  boys 
made  quite  as  rapid  progress  in  the  essential  branches  as 
did  the  boys  of  the  day  schools.  The  evening -school 
boys  had  a  steadiness  of  purpose  unknown  to  boys  un- 
trained to  labor.  Professor  Rankle,  of  Boston,  says,  "  So 
far  from  interfering  with  intellectual  culture,  industrial 
culture  really  lends  to  it  a  powerful  support  by  strength- 
ening the  character  and  developing  the  moral  energies.  It 
is  upon  these  moral  energies  that  the  entire  value  of  hu- 
man character  depends." 

"  It  takes  more  than  a  mere  knowledge  of  books,"  says 
Superintendent  Wickersham,  "  to  make  a  useful  member 
of  society.  We  must  so  modify  our  system  of  instruction 
as  to  send  out,  instead,  large  classes  of  young  people  fitted 
for  trades,  and  willing  and  able  to  work. 

Herein  lies  the  great  advantage  of  the  country  school : 
both  boys  and  girls  have  a  combination  of  mental  and 
physical  exercise.  The  morning  and  evening  "chores" 
on  the  farm  and  in  the  household  prevent  undue  mental 
exertion.  They  are  not  surfeited  witli  school  and  books ; 
school,  indeed,  is  a  relief  from  hard  labor.  Better  six 
months'  schooling  in  earnest  than  ten  months  of  unwilling 
dawdling.  For  one,  I  am  thankful  that  I. was  trained  to 
habits  of  hard  work  in  my  boyhood,  and  went  to  a  coun- 
try school  where  I  was  not  crammed  with  studies  or 
worried  with  credits,  or  made  wretched  with  written  ex- 
aminations. 

If,  for  the  teacher,  the  country  school  has  its  dark  side 
in  low  wages  or  lack  of  society,  it  has  also  its  bright  side 
in  contrast  with  the  great  schools  of  the  towns  and  cities. 


THE    MANAGEMENT   OF    UNGRADED   COUNTRY    SCHOOLS.   117 

To  show  this,  let  me  give  you  an  encouraging  thought 
from  Professor  William  Russell,  whose  words,  after  a 
lapse  of  thirty  years,  still  linger  lovingly  in  my  ears : 

UA  mind  accustomed  to  large  views,  and  working  on 
broad  principles,  will,  unconsciously  and  necessarily,  adopt 
methods  correspondent,  and  will  radiate,  from  its  own  ac- 
tion, light  and  truth  throughout  the  sphere  of  its  influ- 
ence. Nowhere  is  this  statement  more  strikingly  verified 
than  in  the  case  of  an  intelligent  teacher,  in  the  direction 
and  instruction  of  an  elementary  school.  It  is  in  this 
sphere  that  ingenuity  and  tact,  and  originality  and  skill, 
are  most  needed,  in  endeavors  to  develop  intellectual  ca- 
pabilities and  build  up  the  great  fabric  of  mental  power. 
Nowhere  else,  in  the  whole  field  of  education,  is  the  de- 
mand so  urgent  for  a  thorough  insight  into  the  nature  and 
working  of  the  mind,  for  the  light  to  guide  its  advances, 
or  the  power  to  mould  its  expanding  character." 

VI.    CONDENSED    DIRECTIONS. 

1.  The  true  economy  of  teaching  an  ungraded  school  is 
to  make  the  fewest  possible  number  of  classes,  and  to  con- 
sider both  age  and  capacity  in  making  your  classification. 

2.  If  your  school  is  a  large  one,  do  not  attempt  to  hear 
daily  recitations  in  everything,  but  alternate  the  studies  of 
the  more  advanced  pupils. 

3.  When  they  are  not  reciting,  assign  your  classes  text- 
book lessons  or  some  piece  of  definite  work  on  slates  or 
blackboards. 

4.  Economize  time  and  instruction  by  means  of  as  many 
general   exercises   as   possible,  in  which  all   except   the 
youngest  pupils  can  join  •  such  as  drill  exercises  in  the 
four  rules  of  arithmetic,  mental-arithmetic  examples,  the 


118  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

spelling  of  common  words,  abstracts  in  composition,  re- 
view questions  on  the  leading  facts  of  geography,  etc.  To 
do  this  will  require  tact  and  forethought;  but  when  well 
done,  it  is  invaluable. 

5.  Take  an  hour,  weekly,  for  select  readings,  dialogues, 
and  lessons  on  morals  and  manners.    You  can  lire  a  whole 
school  with  enthusiasm  for  good  by  reading  the  right 
kind  of  stories. 

6.  Occasionally  give  your  classes  a  written  examination. 
In  most  city  schools,  written  examinations  are  carried  to 
great  extremes ;  but  in  most  country  schools  there  is  not 
enough  of  written  work  to  give  readiness  and  exactness 
in  the  written  expression  of  thought. 

7.  Train  your  older  pupils  to  correct  and  credit  the 
papers  of  the  younger  ones,  and  let  the  oldest  girls  play 
teacher  occasionally. 

8.  If  you  are  a  woman,  give  your  girls  occasional  talks 
on  domestic  economy.     Buy  some  sensible  book  on  the 
subject  and  lend  it  to  them.     A  great  many  homes  are 
poorly  kept  on  account  of  ignorance.     Huxley  says,  "  I 
put  instructional!  the  elements  of  household  work  and  of 
domestic  economy  next  in  order  to  physical  training." 
"  Knowledge  of  domestic  economy,"  says  Kingsley,  "  saves 
income." 

9.  If  you  are  a  man,  take  some  interest  in  the  home- 
work of  your  boys.     Instil  into  their  minds  the  necessity 
of  labor  for  every  human  being.     Point  out  to  them  the 
life-long  value  of  being  trained  in  boyhood  to  habits  of 
regular  employment  in  useful  labor.     Many  a  boy  on  a 
farm  complains  of  his  hard  lot  when  he  is  really  being 
blessed  by  hard  labor.     A  wise  teacher  can  often  set  him 
right  in  his  notions. 


TIIE   MANAGEMENT   OF    UNGRADED   COUNTRY    SCHOOLS.    119 

10.  Endeavor  to  make  your  school  the  district  centre 
of  civility,  politeness,  and  good  manners.     If  they  learn 
good-breeding  at  all,  many  pupils  must  learn  it  at  school. 
There  is  no  limit  to  the  civilizing  influence  of  a  gentle 
woman  or  a  gentlemanly  man  in  a  country  school.     Send 
out  your  pupils  with  the  seal  of  honor  and  truthfulness. 

11.  Persuade  the  parents  to  visit  your  school  even  if 
you  have  to  do  so  by  means  of  exhibitions  in  which  their 
children  take  a  part. 

12.  Kemember  that  school  trustees  are  your  legal  su- 
periors in  office.     Argue  with  them,  persuade  and  con- 
vince them  if  you  can,  but  do  not  contradict  them. 

13.  Bear  in   mind  that  though  you  may  have  more 
"  book-learning  "  than  most  of  the  men  and  women  in  a 
country  district,  there  are  sure  to  be  many  parents  who 
are  your  superiors  in  sound  sense,  in  judgment,  and  in  a 
knowledge  of  the  solid  facts  of  human  life. 

14:.  Before  you  begin  school,*if  possible,  call  a  meeting 
of  the  "  trustees,"  or  "  committee."  Talk  over  matters 
with  them,  ask  their  advice,  and  tell  them  your  plans.  It 
is  well  to  go  into  a  new  school  backed  by  the  weight  of 
official  power. 

15.  Whenever  you  have  any  unusual  cases  of  discipline, 
consult  the  trustees  or  the  parents  before  you  take  action. 

16.  The  following  may  be  taken  for  practical  guidance 
in  your  course  of  instruction  : 

A  child  of  average  mental  powers  ought  to  be  able,  on 
leaving  school  at  fifteen  years  of  age — 

1.  To  read  well  and  spell  well. 

2.  To  write  a  neat  and  legible  hand. 

3.  To  know  the  main  points  in  the  geography  of  the 
world,  and  the  leading  events  in  our  country's  history. 


120  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

4.  To  speak  correct  English  and  to  write  readily  a  well- 
expressed  letter  of  business  or  friendship. 

5.  To  work  accurately  any  plain  business  questions  in- 
volving the  four  rules,  common  and  decimal  fractions,  and 
simple  interest. 


PART  II. 

CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  COMMON- 
SCHOOL  ESSENTIALS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES. 

I.  "  THE  aim  of  all  intellectual  training  for  the  mass  of 
the  people  should  be  to  cultivate  common-sense,  to  qual- 
ify them  for  forming  a  sound  practical  judgment  of  the 
circumstances  by  which  they  are   surrounded."  —  John 
Stuart  Mill. 

II.  "  The  intellectual  training  to  be  given  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools  must,  of  course,  in  the  first  place,  consist 
in  learning  to  use  the  means  of  acquiring  knowledge,  or 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic ;  and  it  will  be  a  great 
matter  to  teach  reading  so  completely  that  the  act  shall 
have  become  easy  and  pleasant. 

"But  along  with  a  due  proficiency  in  the  use  of  the 
means  of  learning,  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge,  of  in- 
tellectual discipline,  and  of  artistic  training  should  be  con- 
veyed in  the  elementary  schools ;  and  in  this  direction  I 
can  conceive  no  subject-matter  of  education  so  appropri- 
ate and  so  important  as  the  rudiments  of  physical  science, 
with  drawing,  modelling,  and  singing." — Huxley. 

6 


122  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

III.  "An  educational  course  may  be  packed  so  full  of 
work  that  one  piece  crushes  out  another ;  so  many  books 
to  be  gone  over,  so  many  pages  to  be  taken  at  a  lesson,  so 
many  exercises  of  all  sorts  to  be  attempted,  if  not  accom- 
plished; and  then  the  pressure  is  the  obstacle  against 
which  both  teachers  and  taught  beat  until  they  are  often 
pitifully  bruised." — Superintendent  Eliot. 

IV.  "  Worth  belongs  to  any  subject  of  study  if  it  con- 
veys methods  that  are  useful  far  bej^ond  itself.     The  sci- 
ences that  embody  an  organization  for  aiding  the  mind 
— whether  in  deductive  method,  such  as  geometry  and 
physico-mathematical  science;  in  observation  and  induc- 
tion, as  the  physical  sciences;  or  in  classification,  as  in 
the  natural  -  history  sciences  —  would  on  these  grounds 
alone  be  admitted  to  the  higher  circle  of  mental  disci- 
pline or  training,  irrespective  of  the  value  of  the  facts 
and  principles  viewed  separately  or  in  detail.     It  depends 
partly  on  the  teacher  and  partly  on  the  scholar  whether 
the  element  of  method  shall  stand  forth  and  extend  itself, 
or  whether  the  subjects  shall  only  yield  their  own  quan- 
tum of  matter  or  information. ...  In  estimating  the  value 
of  a  branch  of  study,  we  must  consider  not  merely  what 
it  gives  us,  but  what,  through  engrossment  of  our  time,  it 
deprives  us  of." — Bain's  Education  as  a  Science. 


CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS   FOR  TEACHING  BEADING.     123 


CHAPTER  II. 

CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  READING. 

1.  Teach  beginners  by  a  judicious  combination  of  the 
word  method,  phonic  method,  and  spelling  method.     Af- 
ter learning  to  call  a  limited  number  of  words  at  sight, 
the  methods  practically  run  together,  and  the  difference 
is  so  little  apparent  that  no  one  method  need  be  made  a 
hobby  of. 

2.  Make  use  of  the  school  chart,  the  Primer,  or  First 
Reader,  and  the  blackboard  :  best  of  all  is  the  blackboard. 
Make  the  letters,  and  let  your  pupils  try  to  imitate  you. 
Write  or  print  words,  and  let  your  scholars  do  the  same. 

3.  Lessons  for  beginners  should  be  very  short,  not  ex- 
ceeding ten  minutes  in  length. 

4.  Give  patient  and  long-continued  attention  to  the  cor- 
rection of  slovenly  and  incorrect  pronunciation,  both  in 
spoken  language  and  in  reading  from  the  book. 

5.  Give   special  attention  to  drill  on  the   elementary 
sounds,  both  vowel  and  consonant.     The  sounds  of  the 
letters  must  be  taught  with  their  names.     Take  frequent 
concert  exercises  in  vocal  culture,  including  drill  on  force, 
pitch,  movement,  and  inflection,  in  order  to  bring  out  the 
voices  of  timid  pupils,  and  to  secure  flexibility  of  the  or- 
gans of  speech. 

6.  Call  out  your  reading  classes  into  line.     Train  pupils 
to  stand  erect,  and  to  hold  the  book  in  the  left  hand. 


124  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 

7.  Train  pupils  to  open  the  mouth  freely.     This  may 
be  done  by  long-continued  concert  drill  on   the  vowel 
sounds,  such  as  a  in  arm,  or  a  in  all.     There  can  be  no 
good  reading  with  the  teeth  and  lips  half  closed. 

8.  Train  pupils,  not  only  to*call  words,  but  also  to  think 
about  the  meaning  of  what  they  read.     "  The  great  and 
almost  universal  fault  in  teaching  reading,"  says  Superin- 
tendent Philbrick,  uis  the  too  great  neglect  of  attention 
to  the  sense  of  what  is  read."     "Even  long  after  a  child 
can  read,"  says  Bain,  "it  is  unable  to  extract  much  infor- 
mation from  books."     Hence  the  need  of  the  teacher's 
assistance. 

9.  Question   pupils  upon   what  they  read.      By  con- 
versation with  them  upon  the  subject  of  the  lesson,  en- 
deavor to  make  it  interesting  and  instructive.     When  they 
thoroughly  understand  what  they  read,  and  have  a  real 
appreciation  of  the  subject,  they  will  read  naturally  and 
with  correct  emphasis  and  inflection.     The  teacher  may 
read  a  piece  to  let  his  pupils  perceive  how,  by  a  natural 
tone  and  correct  emphasis  and  inflection,  he  brings  out 
the  meaning;   but  he  must  carefully  avoid  training  his 
pupils  to  imitate  him.      They  must  read  well  of  them- 
selves, because  they  understand  and  appreciate  the  sub- 
ject ;  they  must  never  read  as  parrots. 

10.  In  order  to  secure  close  attention  to  the  reading- 
lesson,  require  pupils  to  copy  one  paragraph,  at  least,  of 
every  lesson.    Continue  this  even  in  the  higher  grades,  as 
an  aid  in  punctuation  and  spelling  as  well  as  in  reading. 

11.  When  the  lesson  is  a  suitable  one,  let  pupils  close 
their  books,  and  tell  from  memory,  in  their  own  words, 
the  substance  of  the  piece.     Occasionally  require  a  writ- 
ten abstract  of  some  suitable  story. 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOR   TEACHING   BEADING.     125 

12.  Read  aloud  to  younger  classes  every  advancg  lesson. 
Explain  the  meaning  of  difficult  or  unusual  words.     In 
this  way,  it  is  possible  for  pupils  to  get  the  sense  of  what 
they  read. 

13.  Make  a  list  of  words  that  pupils  most  frequently 
mispronounce,  and  drill  your  pupils  in  the  correct  pronun- 
ciation of  these  words.     It  is  not  enough  to  tell  a  pupil 
of  a  fault  he  commits ;  make  him  correct  it  himself.    Put 
an  instant  stop  to  screaming,  shouting,  or  drawling. 

14.  Occasionally  take  a  spelling-lesson  from  the  read- 
ing -  lesson,  but  do  not  mix  up  spelling  and  reading  to- 
gether.    "  To  make  the  child  spell  all  the  time  he  is  read- 
ing," says  Superintendent  Eliot,  "is  like  tripping  him 
when  we  would  have  him  walk.     Spelling  is  to  be  prac- 
tised at  the  outset  only  so  far  as  it  is  a  help  to  reading ; 
but  it  never  should  have  the  lion's  share  it  has  long 
claimed  in  our  teaching." 

15.  Train  your  classes  daily,  the  higher  grade  as  well  as 
the  lower,  in  some  one  of  the  following  exercises  in  vocal 
culture : 

1.  Attitude.  4.  Articulation. 

2.  Breathing.  5.  Enunciation. 

3.  Yowel  sounds.  6.  Pronunciation. 

1G.  Breathing  exercises  are  of  great  value  as  an  aid  in 
securing  an  erect  attitude  and  the  free  use  of  the  vocal 
organs.  Introduce  every  lesson  with  a  short  drill.  Train 
your  pupils  to  keep  their  lungs  well  filled  with  air,  and  to 
breathe  often  while  reading. 

17.  In  all  classes,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  give  fre- 
quent and  thorough  drill  upon  words  containing  the  vowel 
sounds,  properly  grouped  and  arranged.  Pay  special  at- 
tention to  those  sounds  which  children  in  some  parts  of 


126  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

our  country  are  apt  to  give  incorrectly  :  such  as  a  in  half, 
calf,  laugh,  etc. ;  intermediate  a,  as  in  ask,  last,  past,  after, 
etc. ;  u  after  r,  as  in  true,  rude,  fruit,  etc. ;  u  as  in  tube, 
tune,  etc. ;  o  as  in  do,  two,  etc. ;  o  as  in  road,  coat,  etc.  The 
school  is  the  proper  place  for  correcting  provincialisms  in 
pronunciation. 

18.  Do  not  allow  children  to  pronounce  the  words  one 
by  one,  slowly  and  monotonously.     From  the  first,  pay 
particular  attention  to  the  much-abused  articles  a  and  the. 
These  should  be  read  as  if  they  formed  a  syllable  of  the 
following  word  :  as,  a-boolc' ',  a-hatf,  just  as  a  is  sounded  in 
around',  along'  —  the  sound  of  a  slightly  obscured  and 
shortened,  not  the  sound  of  u  in  but.    So,  also, "  the  book" 
is  sounded  thu-booh' ,  not  "the'  book0'  nor  "  thur' -book! ." 
Pupils  from  the  outset  should  be  taught  to  read  in  phrases  : 
as,  The-poor-man,  had-on-his-head,  a- white-hat. 

19.  In  the  primary  classes,  teach  pupils  at  least  the  dic- 
tionary notation  of  the  long  and  the  short  vowel  sounds ; 
and,  in  the  grammar  grades,  explain,  by  blackboard  drill, 
the  entire  notation  of  the  school  dictionary  in  use,  so  that 
pupils  may  be  able  to  find  out  for  themselves  the  correct 
pronunciation  of  words.     Train  your  pupils  to  refer  to 
the  dictionary  for  definitions  as  well  as  pronunciation. 

20.  Avoid  the  extreme  of  a  high-pitched,  sharp,  piercing, 
unnatural  school-tone,  as  well  as  the  other  extreme  of  fee- 
bleness and  indistinctness.     The  following  will  indicate 
a  good  standard  of  force  and  loudness  in  school  reading : 

Every  scholar  must  read  so  that  every  other  member  of 
the  class  can  easily  hear  every  word  without  looking  at  the 
book. 

In  order  to  determine  this  standard,  listen  to  the  read- 
ing without  a  book  in  your  hands,  and  occasionally  let 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOR   TEACHING   BEADING.     127 

your  pupils  close  their  books  while  one  of  their  number  is 
reading. 

21.  In.  a  graded  class  of  fifty  pupils,  it  is  desirable  to 
train  the  whole  class  together  a  part  of  the  time ;  but  some- 
times it  is  best  to  divide  the  class  into  sections  of  ten  each, 
taking  one  section  at  a  time,  and  allowing  the  others  to 
study  a  spelling-lesson  or  to  write  a  composition. 

22.  In  grammar-grade  classes,  make  reading-lessons  the 
basis  of  exercises  in  grammar  and  composition,  but  take 
them  as  exercises  distinct  from  the  mere  act  of  reading 
aloud.    [See  Part  III.,  "Heading."]    In  one  lesson  let  the 
pupils  find  out  all  the  nouns,  in  another  the  verbs,  and 
in  a  third  every  pronoun,  etc.     In  one  lesson  confine  the 
attention  of  pupils  to  phrases,  in  one  to  clauses,  and  in 
another  to  simple,  complex,  or  compound  sentences.     In 
one  lesson  call  attention  to  nothing  but  the  use  of  capi- 
tals, in  one  to  the  use  of  the  period,  and  in  another  of 
the  comma.      The  interest  and  success  of  these  lessons 
depend  on  the  principle  of  taking  one  thing  at  a  time. 
Then  let  your  pupils  copy  the  whole  or  a  part  of  a  les- 
son from  the  open  book,  and,  next,  require  them  to  write 
what  they  can  of  it  from  memory. 

23.  In  order  to  prevent  monotony,  occasionally  carry 
into  school  a  good  story  book  or  paper,  such   as  The 
Nursery,  Harper's    Young  People,  ^Esofis  Fables,  St. 
Nicholas,  Robinson  Crusoe,  etc.,  and  from  that  let  each 
pupil,  in  turn,  read  a  paragraph  or  page  while  the  others 
listen.     Such  an  exercise,  rightly  managed,  will  kindle  an 
interest  in   the   deadest  class   ever  fossilized  under  the 
steady  dropping  of  the  old-style  reading-lesson. 

2Jr.  Let  the  older  scholars  occasionally  read  something 
from  their  scrap-books.     "When  you  find  an  exceedingly 


128  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

interesting  story  or  anecdote  in  the  newspaper  suitable 
for  school  use,  clip  it  out,  cut  it  up  into  short  paragraphs ; 
paste  these  upon  card-board  slips,  number  them,  distribute 
them  to  your  class,  and  let  each  pupil  read  one  slip. 

25.  The  speaking  of  dialogues  is  a  material  aid  in  se- 
curing naturalness  in  reading.     The  reading  or  recitation 
of  short  selections  of  poetry  also  forms  a  part  of  reading 
culture. 

26.  In  order  to  fix  and  hold  the  attention,  occasionally 
let  each  pupil  read  only  one  line  of  poetry  or  prose,  around 
the  class,  until  the  lesson   is  finished.     Again,  let  each 
scholar  read  only  one  word. 

27.  For  concert  reading,  sometimes  divide  your  class 
into  small  sections  of  four,  six,  or  ten  pupils  each,  and 
then  match  one  against  another  to  see  which  reads  the 
best. 

28.  Do  not  allow  a  scholar,  when  reading,  to  be  inter- 
rupted by  corrections,  or  made  nervous  by  upraised  hands. 
Let  the  corrections  be  made  after  the  reading. 

.  20.  Do  not  be  too  critical  yourself,  and  do  not  allow 
class  criticism  to  run  into  needless  fault-finding.  Be  more 
watchful  to  commend  good  reading  than  to  criticise  poor 
reading. 

30.  Once  in  a  while,  let  the  scholars  choose  sides  and 
make  up  a  reading-match,  every  one  who  makes  any  mis- 
take to  be  seated. 

31.  The  pupils  of  all  the  higher-grade  classes  should  be 
trained  to  lift  their  eyes  from  the  book  and  look  at  the 
teacher  or  the  class.     In  order  to  do  this,  the  eye  must 
anticipate  the  voice,  taking  in  the  last  part  of  the  sen- 
tence, so  that  it  can  be  uttered  while  the  reader  is  looking 
at  his  listeners. 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS    FOE   TEACHING   READING.     129 

32.  "  The  investigation   of   the  reading  -  lesson,"  says 
Currie,  "forms  the  highest  exercise  of  connected  think- 
ing in  the  common-school,  and,  if  judiciously  conducted, 
ought  to  contribute  very  much  to  the  habit  of  reflective 
reading  in  after-life." 

33.  As  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  all  the  reading  done 
by  men  and  women  is  done  silently  and  mentally >  it  is 
evident  that  the  main  purpose  of  the  teacher,  in  all  the 
higher- grade  classes,  should  be  to  train  pupils  to  think 
when  reading,  and  to  gather  up  all  the  thoughts  of  the 
writerfrom  the  printed  page. 

3^"JSvstematie  reading"  says  Russell,  "is  a  valued 
means  for  cultivating  reflective  habits  of  mind ;  reading 
which  is  study,  not  perusal;  reading  which  is  attentively 
done,  carefully  reviewed,  exactly  recorded,  or  orally  re- 
counted. Memory,  under  such  discipline,  becomes  thor- 
oughly retentive,  information  exact,  judgment  correct, 
conception  clear,  thought  copious,  and  expression  ready 
and  appropriate.''  f 

35.  Every  school  library  ought  to  contain  several  sets  of 
school  Readers,  to  supplement  those  in  the  hands  of  the 
pupils.  When  scholars  have  read  through  their  own 
books,  the  new  ones  will  excite  a  fresh  interest.  Besides, 
in  all  except  the  lowest  classes,  an  intelligent  child  will 
extract  most  of  the  information  worth  anything,  from  an 
ordinary  class-book,  in  less  than  sixty  days.  "No  one 
thing,"  says  Horace  Mann,  "  will  contribute  more  to  in- 
telligent reading  than  a  well-selected  school  library." 

II.  QUOTATIONS  FROM  EDUCATORS. 

I.  "  If  teachers  will  cease  to  require  little  children  to 
'read  over 'and  to  '  study'  beforehand  their  reading  ex- 

6* 


130  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

ercise — a  task  entirely  unsuitable  at  their  age — and  will  also 
put  an  end  to  the  absurd  practice  of  allowing  pupils  to  keep 
up,  during  the  reading  exercise,  a  running  criticism  upon 
each  other  by  irritating  and  aggravating  remarks,  thus 
mortifying  their  more  timid  companions,  and  sometimes 
paying  off  old  grudges;  and  will  then  confine  their  labors 
mainly  to  two  points  —  to  making  the  child  realize  the 
thought  of  the  sentence  to  be  read,  and  to  showing  him, 
by  example  and  good  vocal  drill,  how  to  give  a  pleasant 
and  natural  expression  to  that  thought — the  best  part  of 
the  victory  will  be  won." — Superintendent  A.  P.  Stone. 

II.  "A  part  of  the  time  saved  by  judicious  manage- 
ment should  be  given  to  reading;  not  to  the  mere  call- 
ing of  words,  nor  to  premature  lessons  in  elocution,  but 
to  plain  reading  in  good  books  for  the  sake  of  the  infor- 
mation they  contain.  It  is  not  creditable  to  our  efforts 
as  educators  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  pupils  passes 
from  us  without  having  acquired  a  taste  for  the  reading 
of  good  books.  If  our  system  confers  the  ability  to  read 
without  creating  a  desire  for  the  right  kind  of  reading,  it 
surely  stands  in  need  of  reformation.  .  .  .  Very  little  of 
thcj  arithmetic  which  children  learn  at  school  can  be  made 
available  in  after-life.  Their  feats  of  analysis  and  parsing 
are  never  to  be  repeated  in  the  actual  contests  of  actual 
life.  Nine  tenths  of  what  they  have  learned  as  geography 
will  pass  away  as  the  morning  cloud  and  the  early  dew. 
But  a  taste  for  good  reading  will  last  for  life;  will  be 
available  every  day  and  almost  every  hour,  and  will  grow 
by  what  it  feeds  on  ;  will  so  occupy  the  time  of  the  young 
as  to  rob  temptation  of  half  its  power  by  stealing  more 
than  half  its  opportunities ;  and  will  be  a  refuge  and  a 
Bolace  in  adversity." — Superintendent  Newell. 


CONDENSED   DIEECTIONS   FOE   TEACHING   BEADING.     131 

III.  "  We  not  only  want  more  reading-books,  but  dif- 
ferent ones;  not  Headers,  not  fragments  of  writings,  but 
writings,  however  brief — a  story  or  a  history,  a  book  of 
travels  or  a  poem — associated  as  vividly  as  possible  with 
the  author  wrho  wrote  them,  not  a  mere  book-maker  who 
has  patched  together  pieces  of  them.     With  such  reading- 
books,  intelligently  used,  the  inability  of  our  children  to 
read  at  sight  and  writh  expression  would  become  less  com- 
mon and  less  painful.     As  for  grammar,  it  would  almost 
develop  itself  from  such  reading  as  this.    Familiarity  with 
the  best  thoughts  and  expressions  would  lead  children, 
with   comparatively   little   effort,  to   think   and   express 
themselves  in  good  language." — Superintendent  Eliot. 

IV.  "  I  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  my  conviction  that  if 
half  the  school-time  were  devoted  to  reading,  solely  for 
the  sake  of  reading;  if  books  were  put  into  the  scholars' 
hands  all  that  while,  under  wise  direction,  divested  of 
every  shadow  of  association  with  text-book  work,  to  be 
perused  with  interest  and  delight  inspired  by  their  attrac- 
tive contents — choice  volumes  of  history,  biography,  trav- 
els, poetry,  fiction — there  would  be  a  far  more  profitable 
disposal  of  it  than  marks  its  lapse  in  many  a  schoolroom 
now.     The  ordinary  reading  of  the  schools  is  a  pointless, 
starveling  performance,  so  far  as  language-teaching  is  con- 
cerned."— Superintendent  Harrington. 

V.  "  Good  reading  is  an  art  so  difficult  that  not  one  in 

O 

a  hundred  educated  persons  is  found  to  possess  it  to  the 
satisfaction  of  others,  although  ninety-nine  in  a  hundred 
would  be  offended  were  they  told  that  they  did  not  know 
how  to  read.  The  essential  requisites  are,  perfect  mastery 
of  pronunciation,  and  the  power  of  seizing  instantaneous- 
ly the  sense  and  spirit  of  an  author." — Marcel. 


132  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  SPELLING,  WORD 
ANALYSIS,  AND  DEFINING. 

I.   SPELLING. 

1.  MAKE  a  judicious  combination  of  oral  spelling  with 
written  exercises.     Oral  spelling  secures  correct  pronun- 
ciation, and  awakens  a  keener  interest  in  pupils ;  written 
spelling  is  the  more  practical,  but  is  apt  to  become  weari- 
some if  carried  on  exclusively. 

2.  Train  primary  pupils  on  short  lists  of  the  names  of 
common  things. 

3.  Kequire  them  to  copy  at  least  one  paragraph  from 
each  reading-lesson. 

4.  In  oral  spelling,  excite  a  spirit  of  emulation  by  allow- 
ing pupils  to  win  their  rank  in  line  by  "going  up"  when 
they  spell  a  word  that  has  been  missed. 

5.  Allow  pupils,  at  least  once  a  week,  to  "  choose  sides  " 
and  have  a  spelling-match. 

6.  If  a  spelling-book  is  in  the  hands  of  your  pupils, 
when  you  assign  a  lesson  pronounce  every  word,  and  re- 
quire the  class  to  pronounce  in  concert  after  you,  in  order 
to  secure  correct  pronunciation.    Then  let  each  scholar  in 
turn  pronounce  one  word,  going  over  the  lesson  a  second 
time.    Call  special  attention  to  words  of  difficult  spelling, 
and  to  those  containing  silent  letters.     Occasionally  call 
upon  some  pupil  to  dictate  the  spelling-lesson.     Eequiro 


CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  SPELLING,  ETC.    133 

pupils  to  study  their  lessons,  both  oral  and  written,  by 
copying  the  words  on  their  slates;  the  act  of  writing  will 
secure  some  attention  to  the  lesson. 

7.  If  a  spelling-book  is  not  used,  you  must  supply,  in 
some  measure,  the  lack  of  one  by  grouping  words  into 
short  lessons  and  dictating  them  to  your  pupils,  to  be 
copied  into  blank-books.     There  is  a  great  waste  of  labor 
in  taking  up  words  heterogeneously,  instead  of  by  groups. 

8.  In  written  exercises,  after  the  papers  or  slates  are 
corrected,  require  pupils  to  rewrite  their  misspelled  words. 

9.  Do  not  require  pupils  to  commit  to  memory  and  re- 
peat all  the  words  of  the  spelling-lesson.     "  How  such  an 
absurdity,"  says  Superintendent  Philbrick,  "could  ever 
enter  the  head  of  a  sane  teacher,  it  is  difficult  to  con- 
ceive." 

10.  Require  pupils  to  pronounce  each  word  before  spell- 
ing it. 

11.  In  oral  spelling,  require  pupils  to  divide  words  into 
syllables ;  but,  in  long  words,  do  not  require  the  syllables 
to  be  pronounced  or  repronounced. 

12.  In  all  grades  above  the  lowest,  make  out  carefully 
arranged  lists  of  words  which  pupils  are  liable  to  misspell ; 
let  the  pupils  copy  the  words  into  blank-books,  and  study 
the  lessons  until  they  are  thoroughly  learned. 

13.  Let  pupils  exchange  papers  and  correct  the  spelling 
in  one  another's  exercises.     This  of  itself  is  one  of  the 
most  profitable  of  spelling-lessons. 

14.  In  oral  spelling,  require  pupils  occasionally  to  define 
words,  and  to  construct  sentences  showing  the  meaning 
and  use  of  the  words. 

15.  Give  early  and  continued  attention  to  the  practical 
application  of  a  few  of  the  important  rules  of  spelling, 

TJfTT** 

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VER8ITY    I 

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134  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

such  as  doubling  the  final  consonant  before  -ing  and  -ed\ 
dropping  final  6,  etc.  By  this  means,  pupils  will  learn 
to  spell  correctly  a  large  class  of  words  in  current  use. 

16.  The  teaching  of  spelling  should  be  so  conducted  as 
to  unfold  something  of  the  meaning  of  words,  and  some^ 
thing  of  the  formation  of  derivative  from  primitive  words 
and  roots.     The  exercise  then  becomes  a  part  of  good  in- 
tellectual training,  instead  of  a  blind  effort  of  memory. 

17.  Correct  spelling  is  a  conventional  test  of  accurate 
scholarship.     The  teacher  should  endeavor  to  secure  the 
best  results  by  stimulating  the  interest  of  pupils  by  the 
charm  of  novelty,  variety,  emulation,  and  amusement. 

II.   SPELLING-GAMES. 

Let  the  whole  class  stand  in  line.  Require  pupils  to 
sit  down  if  they  fail  to  give  a  word  or  to  spell  it,  or  if 
they  repeat  a  word  given  before  by  some  other  scholar. 
Continue  until  all  but  one  are  seated. 

1.  Give  and  spell  the  name  of  some  article  of  food. 

2.  Give  and  spell  the  name  of  some  animal. 

3.  Give  and  spell  the  name  of  some  city. 

4.  Give  and  spell  the  name  of  some  article  manufact- 
ured of  iron  ;  of  wood. 

5.  Give  and  spell  the  given  name  of  some  boy ;  of  some 
girl. 

Other  Topics  for  Lists. 

1.  Trees.      3.  Countries.  5.  Fishes. 

2.  Rivers.     4.  States  of  the  U.  S.     6.  Birds,  etc. 

6.  Take  long  words,  like  incomprehensibility,  and  let 
each  scholar  in  the  line  name,  in  order,  one  letter. 

7.  Take  a  similar  method  by  letting  each  pupil  spell 
one  syllable. 


CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  F0£  TEACHING  SPELLING,  ETC.    135 

8.  Let  each  pupil  dictate  to  the  next  scholar  a  word  of 
two  syllables. 

9.  Require  each  scholar  to  name  and  spell  a  word  hav- 
ing the  sound  of  long  a  in  the  first  syllabic.     Also  of 

1.  Italian  a.      4.  a  in  ask.      7.  e  in  her. 

2.  Broad   a.       5.  a  in  care.     8.  Long  I. 

3.  Short    a.      6.  Long  e.        9.  Etc. 

10.  Give  and  spell  a  word  of  three  syllables. 

11.  Give  and  spell  a  word  of  four  syllables:  of  five 
syllables. 

12.  Let  the  first  pupil  name  and  spell  some  monosyl- 
lable ;  the  next  scholar,  name  and  spell  one  beginning  with 
the  last  letter  of  the  previous  word,  and  so  on. 

Note.  —  Words  ending  in  x  must  be  ruled  out. 

13.  Let  the  first  pupil  give  and  spell  a  word  of  one  syl- 
lable, and  the  second  scholar  name  and  spell  a  word  that 
rhymes  with  it ;  the  second  scholar  then  to  name  a  new 
word,  and  the  third  to  give  a  rhyme  for  it,  etc.     In  the 
same  way,  take  words  of  two  and  three  syllables. 

III.   WRITTEN    EXERCISES    FOR    PRIMARY    CLASSES. 

Note. — Take  one  of  the  following  exercises  at  a  lesson. 
Let  pupils  exchange  slates  or  papers,  and  correct  one  an- 
other's exercises. 

1.  Write  the  names  of  five  articles  of  dress. 

2.  Of  five  wild  animals ;  five  domestic  animals. 

3.  Of  five  garden  flowers;  five  wrild  flowers. 

4.  Of  five  species  of  birds ;  five  fishes. 

5.  Write  ten  given  or  Christian  names. 

6.  Write  the  full  names  of  ten  of  your  schoolmates, 

7.  Write  the  names  of  five  great  men. 

8.  Of  five  of  your  uncles,  aunts,  or  cousins. 


136  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

9.  Write  the  names  of  five  cities ;  five  rivers. 

10.  The  names  of  five  States;  five  countries. 

11.  The  names  of  ten  articles  kept  for  sale  in  a  grocery- 
store. 

12.  The  names  of  twenty  articles  of  food. 

IV.  WRITTEN    EXERCISES    FOR    GRAMMAR    GRADES. 

1.  Bring  in  a  list  of  twenty  words  of  one  syllable,  to 
illustrate  the  rule  for  doubling  the  final  consonant  before 
"ing  or  -ed. 

2.  Of  twenty  words  that  do  not  double  the  final  con- 
sonant before  -ing  or  -ed. 

3.  Of  twenty  words  of  two  syllables  that  double  the 
final  consonant  before  -ing  and  -ed ;  of  twenty  that  do  not. 

4.  Of  twenty  words  in  which  final  e  is  dropped  on  add- 
ing a  suffix  beginning  with  a  vowel. 

5.  Of  twenty  words  in  which  final  y  of  the  primitive 
word  is  changed  into  i  before  a  suffix. 

V.  ORAL  EXERCISE  FOR  GRAMMAR  GRADES. 

1.  Name  and  spell  a  derivative  word,  to  illustrate  the 
rule  for  doubling  the  final  consonant  of  the  primitive 
word. 

2.  Ditto,  the  rule  for  not  doubling  it. 

3.  Ditto,  the  rule  for  dropping  final  e. 

4.  Ditto,  the  rule  for  changing  y  into  L 

5.  Ditto,  the  rule  for  not  changing  y  before  a  suffix. 

VI.   WORD-ANALYSIS. 

If  you  teach  word-analysis  in  classes  where  pupils  have 
no  text-book  on  this  subject,  taking  it  up  as  an  occasional 
exercise. 


CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOK  TEACHING  SPELLING,  ETC.    137 

1.  Take  the  suffix  -er,  and  ask  each  pupil  in  the  class  to 
give  and  define  some  word  which  contains  it  as  a  suffix; 
as,  teacher,  one  who  teaches,  etc. 

2.  Next  require  each  pupil  to  bring  in  a  list  of  all  such 
words  that  he  can  think  of. 

3.  Take  a  similar  exercise  with  the  suffix  -or,  meaning 
one  who. 

4.  Then  take  up  in  a  similar  way  each  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  or  Teutonic,  prefixes  and  suffixes. 

5.  Take  the  leading  Romanic  prefixes  and  suffixes  in  a 
similar  manner. 

6.  Take  a  few  of  the  leading  Latin  roots,  such  asfacere, 
ducere,  tendere,  etc.,  and  make  out  lists  of  words  derived 
from  them. 

7.  Give  from  time  to  time  lists  of  interesting  words, 
and  let  pupils  find  out  their  origin  and  history  from  the 
dictionary;  as,  for  example,  Bible,  heaven, pagan,  daisy, 
fuchsia,  agate,  calico,  tariff,  crusade,  candidate,  etc. 

8.  "The  first  decided  exemplification  of  language-les- 
sons on  the  great  scale,"  says  Bain,  "  is  the  teaching  of 
synonymous  words.     The  best  example  of  this  is  the  per- 
petual passing  to  and  fro  between  our  two  vocabularies — 
Saxon  and  Classical.     The  pupils  bring  with  them  the 
homely  names  for  what  they  know,  and  the  master  trans- 
lates these  into  the  more  dignified  and  accurate  names ; 
or,  in  reading,  he  makes  the  learned  names  intelligible  by 
referring  to  the  more  familiar." 

9.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  words  gained  by  a  careful 
study  of  roots,  definitions,  and  synonyms  is  the  only  solid 
basis  for  an  appreciative  study  of  the  masterpieces  of  lit- 
erature, or  for  the  formation  of  a  good  style  in  writing. 
It  is  said  that  Daniel  "Webster  acquired  his  remarkably 


138  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

accurate  use  of  words  by  studying  synonyms  half  an  hour 
daily  for  ten  years. 

10.  "  The  study  of  English  words,"  says  Kussell,  "  if 
faithfully  pursued,  in  the  daily  lessons  of  our  schools,  with 
anything  like  the  application  exhibited  in  the  examina- 
tion and  classifying  and  arranging  and  labelling  of  the 
specimens  of  even  a  very  ordinary  cabinet,  would  enrich 
the  intellectual  stores  of  the  young,  and  even  of  the  ma- 
ture, mind  to  an  extent  of  which  we  can  at  present  hardly 
form  a  conception.  Nothing,  however,  short  of  such  dili- 
gence will  serve  any  effectual  purpose." 

VII.   WORD-MATCHES. 

Let  the  pupils  choose  sides  and  stand  in  line.  Those 
who  fail  to  give  a  word  will  be  seated.  A  word  repeated 
is  counted  as  a  failure. 

1.  Require  each  pupil  in  turn  to  give  a  word  having 
the  prefix  out-. 

2.  Give  a  word  with  the  prefix  wi-. 

3.  A  word  with  the  suffix  -er. 

4.  A  word  with  the  prefix  in-. 

5.  A  word  with  the  suffix  -ness  ;  -ion. 

6.  Extend  the  exercises  by  taking  any  suffix  that  is  in 
common  use. 

7.  Give  a  word  derived  from  the  Latin  verb-root  facere. 

8.  Continue  the  exercise  with  other  Latin  roots. 

9.  Let  one  side  give  out  a  word,  and  require  the  other 
eide  to  give  a  synonym. 

10.  Let  one  side  give  a  word,  and  require  the  other  side 
to  give  a  word  of  opposite  meaning. 

11.  Give  a  Romanic  suffix,  state  its  force,  and  give  a 
word  to  illustrate. 


CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  SPELLING,  ETC.    139 

12.  Give  a  word  containing  the  Greek  root  graphein, 
to  write. 

13.  Give  and  define  a  word  containing  the  Greek  root 
logos. 

14.  Give  and  spell  a  word  derived  from  the  Greek. 

15.  Give  and  spell  a  word  derived  from  the  French. 

16.  Spell  a  word  of  Latin  derivation. 

17.  Name  and  spell  a  word  of  Teutonic,  or  Anglo-Sax- 
on, derivation. 

18.  Name  a  Teutonic  word,  and  give  a  synonymous 
word  of  Latin  origin  ;  as  brotherly,  fraternal. 

VIII.   DEFINING. 

1.  Never  require  a  scholar  to  give  formal  definitions 
of  simple  words  whose  meaning  is  already  well  enough 
known. 

2.  Train  your  pupils  at  an  early  age  to  the  habit  of  re- 
ferring to  the  school  dictionary  for  definitions. 

3.  Mark  any  difficult  words  in  the  advance  reading-les- 
son, and  require  pupils  to  find  out  the  dictionary  defini- 
tions. 

4.  Give  out,  once  or  twice  a  week,  a  list  of  five  words 
to  be  defined  at  the  next  lesson. 

5.  Require  each  pupil  to  bring  into  the  class  one  word, 
define  it  orally,  and  use  it  in  a  sentence. 

6.  If  a  spelling-book  is  in  use,  call  attention  in  every 
lesson  to  the  meaning  of  every  word  not  likely  to  be  fully 
understood  by  the  class.     Call  for  volunteer  definitions 
by  the  pupils;  and  if  they  fail,  give  a  definition  yourself. 
Then  require  the  word  to  be  used  in  a  sentence, 

7.  Exact  and  full  definitions  should  be  required,  in  gen- 
eral, only  from  advanced  pupils  when  they  have  gained 


140  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

the  knowledge  necessary  to  frame  definitions,  or  to  un- 
derstand why  they  are  so  framed. 

8.  A  simple  explanation  by  a  pupil  of  the  use  of  a  word 
is  often  better  than  a  formal  dictionary  definition. 

9.  Beware  of  defining  a  word  by  means  of  a  synonym 
equally  incomprehensible.     The  profound  scholar  who,  in 
addressing  a  class  of  little  children,  made  use  of  the  word 
abridgment,  and  then  explained  its  meaning  by  using  epit- 
ome, was  a  poor  teacher,  though  a  classical  scholar. 

10.  The  following  hints  about  definitions  in  general,  in 
the  various  school  ^studies,  are  taken  from  Carrie's  Com- 
mon-school Education : 

"Elementary  instruction  should  therefore  not  begin, 
but  end,  with  definitions.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  since 
the  definition  of  a  thing  is  that  conception  of  it  with 
which  alone  the  mind  can  go  forward  to  any  higher 
knowledge  regarding  it,  the  teacher  must  contemplate 
its  use  in  due  time.  He  may  introduce  it  almost  from 
the  first,  if  he  keep  it  in  its  proper  place  and  within 
proper  limits.  As  the  pupil  advances,  his  training  should 
make  him  more  and  more  capable  of  forming  definitions." 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOK   TEACHING   ARITHMETIC.      141 


CHAPTER  IY. 

CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  ARITHMETIC. 

1.  Train  beginners  from  four  to  six  years  of  age  on 
combinations  of  numbers,  not  exceeding  10,  in  addition, 
subtraction,   multiplication,   and   division.      Begin    with 
counters,  such  as  small  blocks  of  wood,  shells,  corn,  beans, 
or  pebbles,  and  use  them  for  two  or  three  months,  until 
the  pupils  can  make  the  combinations  without  the  aid  of 
objects.     [See  Grube's  Method  in  Fart  III.] 

2.  After  these   combinations  are   thoroughly  learned, 
whether  in  three  months  or  in  a  year,  extend  the  combi- 
nations to  20  ;  then  to  50 ;  next,  100. 

3.  In  connection  with  object-work  and  mental  opera- 
tions, teach  pupils  how  to  make  figures  on  the  blackboard, 
and  how  to  express  operations  according  to  the  forms  of 
written  arithmetic.    [See  Part  III.,  "Arithmetic."]    In  the 
beginning,  proceed  slowly,  allow  no  hesitation,  pass  no 
error.     Aim  here,  as  afterwards,  to  form  the  habit  of  ac- 
curate and  ready  calculation,  and  of  using  rightly  the 
reasoning  powers. 

4.  After  the  first  year,  teach  decimals  in  connection 
with  whole  numbers,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  adding  and 
subtracting;  and  of  multiplying  arid  dividing  them  by 
whole  numbers.     Limit:  first  step,  tenths;  second,  hun- 
dredths;  third,  thousandths.     [See  Part  III.,  "Arithme- 
tic."]   In  the  second  and  third  years,  teach  common  frac- 
tions, limited  mainly  to  halves,  thirds,  fourths,  etc.,  to 


METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 

twelfths.  Illustrate  simple  operations  by  means  of  ap- 
ples, crayons,  or  lines  upon  the  blackboard.  [See  Part 
III.,  "Arithmetic."] 

5.  Children  under  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age  should  be 
limited  mainly  to  operations  in  addition,  subtraction,  mul- 
tiplication, and  division,  in  order  to  secure  accuracy  and 
readiness.  Problems,  analyses,  and  demonstrations  come 
properly  when  the  reasoning  faculties  are  more  fully  de- 
veloped. "  In  certain  respects,"  says  Bain,  "  this  knowl- 
edge [empirical]  is  highly  scientific ;  the  terms  are  clearly 
conceived,  the  directions  precisely  followed,  and  the  re- 
sults accurately  arrived  at.  There  is  nothing  slipshod, 
no  vagueness  to  be  corrected,  nothing  to  be  unlearned. 
The  theory,  rationale,  or  demonstrative  connection  of  the 
steps  is  alone  wanting;  and  that  is  a  later  acquirement." 

G.  Let  beginners  in  the  four  rules,  fractions,  and  table- 
work  learn  first  the  mechanical  process  of  doing  things. 
Work  an  example  on  the  blackboard  before  their  eyes, 
and  let  them  learn  by  imitation.  Of  course,  in  some 
cases,  you  make  the  reason  plain  by  suitable  explanations; 
but  do  not  require  your  pupils  to  explain  at  this  stage. 
Keep  your  long-drawn-out  demonstrations,  and  your  nor- 
mal-school "analyses"  for  pupils  nearer  your  own  age. 
For  some  parts  of  arithmetical  work,  there  are  no  patent 
devices  for  escaping  from  downright  memory  and  hard 
practice-work.  The  learning  of  the  multiplication-table, 
however  introduced  by  object-lessons,  musj;  mainly  be  an 
affair  of  memory  and  the  result  of  long-continued  repeti- 
tion, even  when  pupils  have  reached  the  proper  age. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  giving  pupils  a  much  greater  num- 
ber of  drill  exercises  in  the  four  rules  than  it  is  possible 
to  put  into  a  small  text-book  on  arithmetic. 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOR  TEACHING   ARITHMETIC.      143 

7.  Do  not  try  to  make  pupils  understand  demonstra- 
tions and  analyses  which  are  beyond  the  comprehension 
of  young  children,  though  easily  perceived  when  they  are 
older.     There  are  some  things  in  arithmetic  that  must  be 
learned  practically  as  an  art  before  the  scientific  principles 
are  understood.     Thomas  Hill,  ex-President  of  Harvard 
University,  very  truly  says,  "  The  great  reform  needed  in 
our  public  schools  is  to  postpone  reasoning  to  the  higher 
grammar  classes  and  to  the  high-schools,  and  give  atten- 
tion to  the  powers  of  perception  and  imagination  and  the 
acquisition  of  skill.    It  is  worse  than  useless  for  a  child  to 
explain  his  arithmetic  until  he  has  acquired  rapidity  and 
certainty  in  ciphering ;  it  is  worse  than  useless  to  study 
spelling  and  grammar  before  the  child  can  read  fluently 
and  intelligently." 

8.  If  a  text-book  is  used  by  the  pupils,  omit  complicated 
problems,  and  all  questions  involving  very  large  numbers. 
On  this  point  Superintendent  Stone,  of  Springfield,  re- 
marks, "Improbable  examples,  such  as  never  occur  in 
business,  and  fractional  expressions  of  large  and  unusual 
terms,  which  require  much  time  and  wear  of  brain  to 
handle,  are  not  profitable  work  for  children.     It  is  said 
that  in  ordinary  business  computations,  four  fifths  of  all 
the  fractions  used,  aside  from  decimals,  are  halves,  fourths, 
eighths,  thirds,  and  sixths.     If,  therefore,  such  examples 
only  are  given  as  will  admit  of  rapid  solution,  time  will 
be  gained  for  practice  greater  in  amount  and  variety.'' 
Superintendent  Eliot,  of  Boston,  remarks,  "Instead  of 
some  conception  of  the  simpler  laws  of  mathematics,  our 
scholars  are  misled  with  rules,  or  bewildered  with  puzzles, 
until  they  know  neither  what  they  are  trying  to  learn, 
nor  what  powers  they  are  trying  to  use." 


144  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

9.  Instead  of  teaching  the  tables  by  merely  requiring 
pupils  to  memorize  and  recite  them,  put  the  real  measures 
of  every  kind  before  them,  until  hand  and  eye  are  famil- 
iar with  their  use.    Train  your  scholars  in  actual  measure- 
ments in  long,  square,  and  cubic  measure ;  borrow  from 
some  shop  the  ounce,  half-ounce,  and  pound  weights ;  the 
pint   and  quart   measures ;  the   peck,  bushel,  and  half- 
bushel  ;  and  experiment  with  them  until  your  children 
know  the  reality  as  well  as  the  words  and  numbers.     By 
all  means,  teach  what  you  can  of  the  metric  system  in 
the  same  way.     [See  Part  III.,  "Arithmetic."] 

10.  It  is  highly  desirable  that  scholars  above  the  pri^ 
mary  grades  should  thoroughly  understand  all  operations 
in  common  fractions.     Proceed  slowly,  step  by  step,  lim- 
iting all  operations  to  small  numbers.     [For  appropriate 
models,  see  Part  III.,  "  Arithmetic,"  sec.  v.]      But  do  not 
crowd  analytical  explanations  upon  children  at  too  early 
an   age.      "  Children,"  says   Bain,  "  can   with   difficulty 
rationalize  common  and  decimal  fractions.     The  memory 
for  the  tables  and  for  the  manipulating  of  fractions  ad- 
vances much  faster  than  the  comprehension  of  the  rea- 
sons ;  and  it  is  not  desirable  to  face  these  at  the  age  when 
they  are  not  readily  intelligible.     There  is  plenty  of  in- 
terest in  the  operations  without  the  comprehending  of 
the  scheme  of  mathematical  demonstration  ;  the  ability  to 
work  the  prescribed  exercises  brings  its  own  reward." 

11.  Use  the  blackboard  yourself,  for  the  purpose   of 
giving  explanations  or  models.     Drill  your  pupils  at  the 
blackboards,  sending  up  one  half  the  class  while  the  oth- 
er half  is  engaged  in  slate-work.     Give  both  divisions  the 
same  examples,  and  insist  on  good  figures  and  neat  work 
in  addition  to  accuracy.     Give  frequent  drill  exercises 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOE   TEACHING   ARITHMETIC. 

in  addition — the  operation  in  which  more  mistakes  are 
made  than  in  any  other.  Train  pupils  to  consider  ac- 
curacy as  vastly  more  important  than  rapidity.  Train 
pupils  to  exchange  slates  and  correct  one  another's  work. 

12.  Carry  on  mental  and  written  arithmetic  together. 
Introduce  principles  by  mental  operations  with  small  num- 
bers ;  then,  having  fixed  the  principle,  apply  the  rule  to 
larger  numbers  on  the  slate  or  blackboard. 

13.  An  excellent  class  drill  in  mental  arithmetic  is  to 
take  a  five-minute  exercise  as  follows :  Make  up  a  set  of 
ten  practical  business  questions;  read  a  question  and  al- 
low from   a  quarter  to   a  half  minute  for  the  mental 
solution,  and  require  the  answers  to  be  written  on  slates 
or  paper;  so  continue  with  the  set.     Then  let  pupils  ex- 
change slates,  and  credit  the  correct  answers  as  given  by 
the  teacher.     Aside  from  its  practical  business  training, 
the  disciplinary  value  of  this  exercise  is  that  it  trains  to 
a  habit  of  fixed  attention.     [For  models,  see  Part  III., 
"  Arithmetic,"] 

14:.  A  good  method  of  oral  drill  is  as  follows :  Let  the 
pupils  stand  in  line  around  the  room,  requiring  any  one 
who  fails  to  give  a  correct  answer  to  go  to  his  seat. 
"  Count  by  2's  to  50,  and  then  backwards."  The  first 
scholar  counts  2,  the  second  4,  and  so  on.  Continue  this 
drill  with  the  numbers  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  and  10,  according 
to  the  advancement  of  the  class.  The  value  of  this  exer- 
cise as  a  mental  discipline  is  that  it  requires  the  fixed  atten- 
tion of  every  member  of  the  class,  and  leads  to  a  habit  of 
readiness  and  promptness.  The  same  exercise  may  be 
taken  as  a  concert  drill. 

15.  Let  the  pupils  stand  and  allow  each  scholar  to  give 
the  next  in  line  some  short  business  example. 

T 


146  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

16.  Occasionally  match  one  class  against  another,  or  one 
division  against  another,  by  submitting  five  business  ques- 
tions to  be  worked  in  a  given  time  on  the  slate.    Then 
compare  the  percentage  obtained. 

17.  Do  not  take  more  than  one  hour  a  day  for  arith- 
metic.   Depend  mainly  upon  slate  and  blackboard  drill  in 
school.     It  is  a  bad  plan  to  give  out  long  lists  of  exam- 
ples to  be  solved  at  home. 

18.  The  essential  parts  of  arithmetic  which  all  pupils 
should  understand  are  the  four  rules,  common  and  decimal 
fractions,  the  tables  of  money,  weights  and  measures,  and 
their  application,  percentage,  and  the  principles  of  pro- 
portion.    All  the  rest  of  the  text-book  may  be  omitted, 
without  much  loss,  by  all  except  high-school  pupils.     A 
great  deal  that  passes  in  school-books  under  the  name  of 
arithmetic  consists  largely  of  conventional  exercises,  of  no 
practical  and  of  little  disciplinary  value.      If  you  are  al- 
lowed any  discretion  in  the  matter,  cut  out  half  of  the 
text-book ;  but  make  up  and  give  to  3rour  class  numberless 
sets  of  simple,  practical,  business  questions,  both  mental 
and  written. 

19.  One  marked  defect  in  most  of  the  modern  school 
arithmetics  is  that  they  are  filled  up  with  long  "expla- 
nations" and  "analyses,"  to  the  exclusion  of  drill  exam- 
ples.    The  explanations,  if  given  at  all,  should  be  given 
orally  by  the  teacher ;  they  do  not  belong  to  a  pupil's  book, 
unless  it  is  assumed  that  the  teacher  knows  nothing  what- 
ever about  the  subject.     Another  marked  defect,  arising 
from  limited  space,  is  the  stepping  from  very  simple  ques- 
tions to  complex  ones,  and  a  too  rapid  transition  from  one 
topic  to  another.    As  a  teacher,  it  is  your  business  to  rem- 
edy, in  some  degree,  these  defects  by  adding  here  and 


in 
^y    no 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOR   TEACHING   ARITHMETIC.     147 

cutting  out  there.  Difficult  problems,  requiring  sustained 
processes  of  reasoning,  or  complicated  forms  of  analytical 
explanations,  should  be  given  only  to  the  more  advanced 
pupils  whose  reflective  faculties  are  somewhat  developed. 
In  fact,  what  are  termed  "  hard  questions"  do  not  come 
within  the  province  of  the  common  school  at  all,  if,  indeed, 
of  any  school. 

"For  the  large  majority,"  says  Bain,  "the  solution  of 
problems  is  not  the  highest  end.  Nine  tenths  of  the  pu- 
pils derive  their  chief  benefit  from  the  ideas  and  forms 
of  thinking  which  they  can  transfer  to  other  regions  of 
knowledge." 

20.  Review  frequently  by  giving  out  short,  simple  prob- 
lems that  involve  a  knowledge  of  all  that  the  pupil  has 
gone  over  in  any  preceding  grade.     Repetition  will  fix 
principles.    What  pupils  can  do  they  know,  and  they  know 
Jittle  else. 

21.  Take  especial  pains  to  make  the  pupils  familiar 
with  common  business  forms.     See  that  they  thoroughly 
understand  the  ordinary  phraseology  used  in  mercantile 
transactions. 

22.  Train  the  pupils  to  reason  for  themselves,  to  state 
not  only  what  they  do,  but  wThy  they  do  it.      Let  them 
test  the  truth  and  accuracy  of  their  processes  by  proof,  the 
only  test  they  will  have  to  rely  upon  in  real  business 
transactions.     Endeavor  to  form  in  them  habits  of  patient 
investigation  and  self-reliance,  so  that  they  will  be  able  to 

or  themselves  whether  their  work  is  correct  or  not. 

23.  Arithmetic  is  a  means  of  promoting  sustained  atten- 
tion ;  of  rendering  the  memory  more  tenacious  by  retain- 
ing the  conditions  of  a  question  in  mind  during  the  solu- 
tion ;  and  of  cultivating,  to  some  extent,  the  reasoning 


knowfi 

r  23.  i 

I    tion ;  o 

'  i_»  _    Alv  „ 


148  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

powers.  It  trains  to  habits  of  accuracy.  It  teaches  the  pu- 
pil how  to  proceed  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  the 
simple  to  the  complex,  the  particular  to  the  general,  ex- 
ample to  rule.  More  than  any  other  elementary  study,  it 
enables  the  teacher  to  estimate  the  exact  amount  of  work 
actually  done  by  pupils.  The  teacher  must  keep  clearly  in 
mind  the  two  leading  objects  of  the  study  of  arithmetic : 
(1)  for  practical  business  in  life ;  (2)  for  mental  discipline 
in  habits  of  attention,  and  in  simple  processes  of  reasoning. 

24.  Teachers  should  bear  in  mind  that  for  many  pupils 
arithmetic  is  a  difficult  study,  especially  at  an  early  age. 
It  is  not  wise  to  assume  that  pupils  who  are  dull  in  arith- 
metic are  obtuse  in  all  other  studies.    Benjamin  Franklin, 
at  school,  was  a  dullard  in  arithmetic,  but  he  managed  to 
get  on  in  the  world  nevertheless. 

"It  is  a  very  common  notion,"  says  De  Morgan,  "that 
arithmetic  is  easy ;  and  a  child  is  called  stupid  who  does 
not  receive  his  first  ideas  of  number  with  facility ;  but 
this  is  a  mistake.  Were  it  otherwise,  savage  nations  would 
acquire  a  numeration,  and  a  power  of  using  it,  at  least  pro- 
portional to  their  actual  wants." 

25.  While  arithmetic  is  a  very  important  study,  the 
young  teacher  should  avoid  making  it  a  hobby.    It  is  well 
to  bear  in  mind  the  caution  of  Bain  as  to  what  mathemat- 
ics does  not  do :  "  It  does  not  teach  us  how  to  observe, 
how  to  generalize,  how  to  classify.     It  does  not  teach  us 
the  prime  art  of  defining  by  the  examination  of  particu- 
lar things.    It  guards  us  against  some  of  the  snares  of  lan- 
guage, but  not  all ;  it  is  no  aid  when  statements  and  argu- 
ments are  perplexed  by  verbiage,  contortions,  inversions, 
and  ellipses.     The  too  exclusive  devotion  to  it  gives  a 
wrong  bias  of  mind  respecting  truth  generally ;  and,  his- 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOE   TEACHING   ARITHMETIC.      149 

torically,  it  has  introduced  serious  errors  into  philosophy 
and  general  thinking." 

"  Life  is  not  long  enough,"  says  Thomas  Hill,  "  to  spend 
so  large  a  proportion  of  it  on  arithmetic  as  is  spent  in  the 
modern  system  of  teaching  it ;  and  arithmetic  is  too  valu- 
able an  art  to  have  our  children  neglect  to  acquire  facil- 
ity in  it,  while  they  are  being  stupefied  and  disgusted  with 
premature  attempts  to  understand  it  as  a  science." 


150  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  V. 
LANGUAGE -LESSONS,  GRAMMAR,  AND  COMPOSITION. 

I.   LANGUAGE- LESSONS   AND    GRAMMAR. 

1.  IN  considering  this  branch  of  school  studies,  it  is  well 
to  bear  in  mind  the  following  axioms : 

(1.)  " Speech  is  acquired  mainly  l>y  imitation" 
(2.)  Imitation  precedes  originality. 
(3.)  Language  precedes  arithmetic. 
(4.)  Grammar  comes,  not  before  language,  but  af- 
ter it. 

2.  In  the  primary  grades,  teachers  must  give  patient 
and  persistent  attention  to  the  correction  of  vulgarisms, 
provincialisms,  and  current  blunders  in  speech,  without 
waiting  for  any  grammatical  knowledge  whatever. 

3.  Oral  and  written  language-lessons  should  precede  the 
use  of  a  text-book  on  grammar.     Begin  written  exercises 
by  requiring  pupils  to  construct  short  simple  sentences 
that  begin  with  a  capital  and  end  with  a  period.     [See 
Part  III.,  Chapter  IV.,  I.] 

"  Teachers  who  take  the  pains  to  observe  well,"  says 
Professor  Russell,  "  know  that  there  is  a  stage  in  the  life 
of  childhood  when  expression  is  a  spontaneous  tendency 
and  a  delight ;  when  to  construct  a  sentence  on  his  slate, 
or  pencil  a  note  on  paper,  is  to  the  miniature  ambitious 
student  a  conscious  achievement, and  a  triumph  of  power." 

4.  For  beginners  in  composition,  after  the  prerequisite 


LANGUAGE -LESSONS,  GRAMMAR,  AND   COMPOSITION.    151 

exercises  in  sentence-making,  write  a  very  short,  simple 
story  on  the  blackboard,  and  let  them  copy  it  on  their 
slates,  or  on  paper.  Continue  this  for  a  time,  and  then 
let  them  copy  short  reading-lessons  from  the  book,  or  in- 
teresting paragraphs  from  the  longer  lessons.  A  few  ex- 
ercises of  this  kind,  taken  at  long  intervals,  are  not  enough ; 
they  must  be  continued  daily  for  several  years  of  school 
life.  "  The  necessity  of  a  progressive  and  graduated 
course  of  training  in  the  mother  tongue,"  says  Professor 
Swinton,  author  of  "Language  Lessons,"  etc.,  "extending 
over  some  years,  and  beginning  in  practice  and  ending  in 
theory,  is  now  generally  recognized  and  acted  upon." 

5.  One  of  the  very  best  of  exercises  is  to  let  children 
reproduce  from  memory,  in  their  own  words,  stories  told 
them  by  the  teacher,  or  which  they  themselves  have  read 
or  heard  out  of  school.     In  this  way  writing  becomes  a 
pleasure  instead  of  a  task.     Originality  in  thought  must 
not  be  expected  of  children. 

"  Stories,"  says  Miss  Keeler,  "  offer  the  best  opportu- 
nity to  improve  the  child's  language  and  culture.  You 
can  do  almost  anything  with  children  if  you  will  only  tell 
them  stories.  You  can  refine  their  feelings,  touch  their 
emotions,  rouse  their  enthusiasm,  awaken  their  ambition, 
enkindle  their  devotion.  There  is  nothing  in  the  broad 
sweep  of  noble  living  or  noble  thinking  that  you  cannot 
bring  to  their  consciousness  by  means  of  a  story.  As  for 
language,  the  story  is  the  very  royal  road  to  its  acquisi- 
tion. Tell  a  group  of  children  a  story  which  awakens 
their  interest  and  enchains  their  fancy,  and  then  ask  for  it 
back  again,  and  notice  how  accurately  it  will  come." 

6.  If  pupils  are  kept  busy  upon  sentence-making  and 
composition  exercises  up  to  the  age  of  twelve,  it  will  not 


152  METHODS   OP   TEACHING. 

be  necessary  to  waste  much  time  in  "parsing"  or  sen- 
tence-analysis. On  this  point  Superintendent  Newell  re- 
marks, "  Being  an  art,  grammar  must  be  learned  in  the 
beginning,  as  all  other  arts  are  learned,  by  the  practice  of 
it.  We  learn  to  draw  by  drawing,  we  learn  to  paint  by 
painting,  we  learn  to  dance  by  dancing,  and  we  must  learn 
i  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  the  English  language'  by 
writing  and  speaking  it,  not  by  parsing  and  analyzing  it." 

7.  In  all  grammar  grades  except  the  highest  class,  lan- 
guage-lessons and  actual  composition  work  constitute  the 
best  means  of  acquiring  a  ready  and  correct  use  of  lan- 
guage, which,  in  its  turn,  becomes  a  sound  basis  for  the 
study  of  technical  grammar.     "  It  is  constant  use  and  prac- 
tice, under  never-failing  watch  and  correction,"  says  Whit- 
ney, "  that  makes  good  writers  and  speakers."    "  As  gram- 
mar was  made  after  language,"  says  Spencer,  "  so  it  ought 
to  be  taught  after  language." 

8.  One  of  the  most  practical  of  all  exercises  is  letter- 
writing.     As  soon  as  a  child  can  write  at  all,  it  ought  to 
be  trained  to  write  a  short  letter.     In  every  grade  dur- 
ing the  whole  course,  repeated  exercises  in  letter-writing 
should  be  given,  so  that  on  leaving  school,  at  any  age  from 
ten  to  fifteen  years,  every  scholar  should  be  able  to  write 
a  letter  neatly  and  correctly,  to  fold  it,  direct  it  properly, 
and  to  put  on  a  postage-stamp.     [For  suggestions  in  this 
exercise,  see  Part  III.,  Chapter  IV.] 

9.  Require  pupils  to  memorize  a  part  or  the  whole  of  a 
short  poem,  and  then  to  write  it  out  from  memory,  punct- 
uate, and  capitalize  it. 

10.  Require  pupils  to  write  compositions  drawn  from 
their  lessons  in  history  and  geography,  thus  utilizing  their 
knowledge  on  those  subjects. 


LANGUAGE -LESSONS,   GRAMMAR,  AND   COMPOSITION.    153 

11.  Require  only  brief  and  reasonable  forms  of  parsing, 
limited  mainly  to  the  construction  of  the  word,  or  its  office 
in  the  sentence,  and  its  relation  to  some  other  word.    The 
Latinized  "  models  for  parsing "  in  many  text-books  in- 
volve a  great  waste  of  time. 

"It  makes  one  shudder,"  says  President  Chadbourne, 
"  to  think  of  the  trash  which  scholars  have  been  compelled 
to  learn  in  connection  with  the  simple  studies  of  grammar, 
arithmetic,  and  geography." 

12.  Require  a  few  essential  definitions  to  be  thoroughly 
learned,  but  first  show  your  scholars  how  a  definition  is 
made  up,  and  why  it  must  he  expressed  in  the  words  which 
are  used,  so  that  it  may  be  remembered  by  meaning  as  well 
as  in  words.     A  comparison  of  the  different  ways  of  ex- 
pressing the  same  definition  is  an  excellent  class  exercise 
for  discussion  and  criticism. 

13.  Explain  clearly  the  meaning  and  use  of  the  ten  lead- 
ing rules  of  syntax,  and  then  require  your  pupils  to  get 
them  by  heart.     But  make  sure  that  they  first  under- 
stand what  the  rules  mean,  and  how  they  are  practically 
applied.    Thousands  of  pupils  have  repeated  hundreds  of 
times  Rule  I.,  "  A  verb  must  agree  with  its  subject  in 
number  and  person,"  without  the  slightest  notion  of  its 
real  meaning  or  practical  application. 

14.  Give  your  older  pupils  some  training  in  the  analy- 
sis of  sentences,  but  make  use  of  brief  and  simple  forms. 
Sentential  analysis  has  its  uses,  but  it  must  not  be  made  a 
hobby  of.     Sentence-making  is  a  more  profitable  exercise 
than  complicated  metaphysical  sentence  -  analysis  with  a 
long  array  of  minor  modifiers. 

15.  Grammar  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  the  com- 
mon-school studies.     To  teach  it  successfully  requires  the 

7* 


154  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

highest  degree  of  skill  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  "  It  is 
more  difficult  than  arithmetic,"  says  Bain, "  and  is  proba- 
bly on  a  par  with  the  beginnings  of  algebra  and  geometry. 
It  cannot  be  effectively  taught  to  the  mass  before  ten  years 
of  age."  "  To  teach  grammar  without  a  printed  text  is 
like  teaching  religion  without  a  manual  or  catechism : 
either  the  teacher  still  uses  the  catechism  without  the  print, 
or  he  makes  a  catechism  for  himself.  There  can  be  no  teach- 
ing except  on  a  definite  plan  and  sequence,  and  good  in- 
stead of  harm  arises  from  putting  the  plan  in  print.  The 
grammar-teacher  working  without  books  either  tacitly  uses 
some  actual  grammar,  or  else  works  upon  a  crude,  untested, 
irresponsible  grammar  of  his  own  making." 

16.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  main  object  of  the  study  of 
grammar  is  not  so  much  to  enable  pupils  to  speak  and 
write  correctly  as  to  enable  them  letter  to  understand  what 
they  read.  A  knowledge  of  grammar  is  essential  to  a  right 
appreciation  of  the  masterpieces  of  literature.  With  more 
advanced  pupils,  the  right  study  of  grammar  is  a  means 
of  mental  discipline  fully  equal  to  that  of  mathematics. 

"I  hold,"  says  Tyndall,  "that  the  proper  study  of  lan- 
guage is  an  intellectual  discipline  of  the  highest  kind. 
The  piercing  through  the  involved  and  inverted  sentences 
of  Paradise  Lost ;  the  linking  of  the  verb  to  its  often 
distant  nominative,  of  the  relative  to  its  distant  antece- 
dent, of  the  agent  to  the  object  of  the  transitive  verb,  of 
the  preposition  to  the  noun  or  pronoun  which  it  governed  ; 
the  study  of  variations  in  mood  and  tense  ;  the  transforma- 
tions often  necessary  to  bring  out  the  true  grammatical 
structure  of  a  sentence — all  this  was  to  my  young  mind  a 
discipline  of  the  highest  value,  and,  indeed,  a  source  of 
unflagging  delight." 


LANGUAGE- LESSONS,  GRAMMAR,  AND   COMPOSITION.     155 


II.   COMPOSITION. 
1.   DIRECTIONS   FOR   TEACHERS. 

1.  When  you  take  charge   of  a  class  not  previously 
trained  in  composition  writing,  set  the  pupils  to  copying 
short  reading-lessons.      Let  them  exchange  papers,  and, 
with  open  book,  correct  one  another's  exercises  with  ref- 
erence to  spelling,  punctuation,  capitals,  and  paragraphs. 

2.  Next,  let  them  write  out  an  abstract  of  some  familiar 
story,  told  or  read  to  the  class. 

3.  When  you  require  a  formal  composition,  select  a 
subject  for  the  entire  class,  and  give  the  necessary  direc- 
tions, explanations,  and  suggestions.    Select  subjects  about 
which  your  pupils  know  something — never  abstract  sub- 
jects, such  as  happiness,  or  knowledge,  or  virtue. 

4.  Train  your  pupils  to  correct  one  another's  composi- 
tions, and  require  them  to  rewrite  corrected  exercises. 

5.  "  I  call  that  the  best  theme,"  says  Thomas  Arnold, 
"  which  shows  that  the  boy  has  read  and  thought  for  him- 
self ;  that  the  next  best  which  shows  that  he  has  read  sev- 
eral books  and  digested  what  he  has  read ;  and  that  the 
worst  which  shows  that  he  has  followed  but  one  book, 
and  followed  that  without  reflection." 

6.  "  Training  in  the  appropriate  use  of  the  English 
language  ought  not  to  be  limited  to  the  mere  grammat- 
ical exercise  of  composing  sentences.     Even  in  our  com- 
mon-schools, it  should  extend  to  the  cultivation  of  taste 
by  which  neat  as  well  as  correct  expression  is  acquired 
as  a  habit." — Russell. 

7.  "  I  hold  it  as  a  great  point  in  self -education  that  the 
student  should  be  continually  engaged  in  forming  exact 
ideas,  and  in  expressing  them  clearly  by  language.     Such 


156  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

practice  insensibly  opposes  any  tendency  to  exaggeration 
or  mistake,  and  increases  the  sense  and  love  of  truth  in 
every  part  of  life.  Those  who  reflect  upon  how  many 
hours  and  days  are  devoted  by  a  lover  of  sweet  sounds  to 
gain  a  moderate  facility  upon  a  mere  mechanical  instru- 
ment ought  to  feel  the  blush  of  shame  if  convicted  of 
neglecting  the  beautiful  living  instrument  wherein  play 
all  powers  of  the  mind." — Professor  Faraday. 

8.  "  The  study  of  rhetoric  in  high  -  schools  ought  not 
to  be  completed  in  fourteen  weeks.  It  should  be  contin- 
ued through  the  entire  course,  at  the  rate  of  one  lesson 
a  week,  because  it  relates  to  language,  which  is  the  instru- 
ment used  by  teacher  and  pupil  throughout  the  course. 
This  method  will  give  time  to  write  the  exercises  assigned 
in  works  on  rhetoric,  and  will  not  interfere  with  other 
studies  relating  to  the  English  language.  —  George  W. 
Minns. 

2.   DIRECTIONS   TO   BE   GIVEN   TO   PUPILS. 

1.  Think  about  the  subject,  and  make  some  plan  of  ar- 
rangement. 

2.  l)o  not  run  together  a  long  string  of  statements  con- 
nected by  ands,  fiuts,  or  ifs;  but  make  short  sentences^ 

3.  After  writing  the  first  draft,  examine  it  critically, 
cross  out  superfluous  words  or  phrases,  interline,  correct, 
and  then  rewrite. 

4.  In  correcting,  examine  with  reference  to — 1.  Spelling; 
2.  Capitals ;  3.  Punctuation  ;  4.  Use  of  words ;  5.  Construc- 
tion of  sentences. 

5.  Acquire  the  habit  of  crossing  fs,  dotting  *'s,  and 
punctuating  as  you  write. 

6.  Do  not  put  off  writing  until  the  day  before  you 
must  hand  in  your  composition. 


CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS   FOR  TEACHING   GEOGRAPHY.    157 


CHAPTER  VI. 
CONDENSED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY. 

1.  MAKE  beginners  familiar  with  the  local  geography 
of  the  place  where  they  live.  Lay  some  kind  of  a  basis 
for  conception  by  calling  attention  to  whatever  natural 
features  of  land  and  water  are  within  the  limited  field  of 
the  pupil's  observation  ;  such  as  hill,  mountain,  valley, 
plain,  spring,  brook,  river,  pond,  lake,  village,  city,  etc. 
Then  extend  these  lessons  to  the  surrounding  country, 
questioning  pupils  about  all  the  places  that  they  have 
ever  seen  in  their  short  journeys.  Next,  connect  this 
knowledge  with  the  elementary  lessons  in  the  text-book, 
or  with  an  outline  map.  [For  first  lessons,  see  Part  III., 
Chapter  III.,  sec.  iii.]  "  In  geography,"  says  Agassiz,  "  let 
us  not,  at  first,  resort  to  books,  but  let  us  take  a  class  into 
the  fields,  point  out  the  hills,  valleys,  rivers,  and  lakes,  and 
let  the  pupils  learn  out-of-doors  the  points  of  the  com- 
pass ;  and  then,  having  shown  them  these  things,  let  them 
compare  the  representations  with  the  realities,  and  the 
maps  will  have  a  meaning  to  them.  Then  you  can  go  on 
with  the  books,  and  they  will  understand  what  these  things 
mean,  and  will  know  what  is  North  and  East  and  South ; 
and  will  not  merely  read  the  letters  N".,  E.,  S.,  "W.  on  a 
square  piece  of  paper,  and  perhaps  think  that  the  United 
States  are  about  as  large  as  the  paper  they  learn  from. 
When  I  was  in  the  College  of  Neufchatel,  I  desired  to 


158  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

introduce  such  a  method  of  teaching  geography.  I  was 
told  it  could  not  be  done,  and  my  request  to  be  allowed 
to  instruct  the  youngest  children  in  the  institution  was 
refused.  I  resorted  to  another  means,  and  took  my  own 
children — my  oldest  a  boy  of  six  years,  and  my  girls,  four 
and  a  half  and  two  and  a  half  years  old — and  invited  the 
children  of  my  neighbors.  Some  came  upon  the  arms  of 
their  mothers ;  others  could  already  walk  without  assist- 
ance. These  children,  the  oldest  only  six  years  old,  I 
took  upon  a  hill  above  the  city  of  ISTeufchatel,  and  there 
showed  the  magnificent  peaks  of  the  Alps,  and  told  them 
the  names  of  those  mountains  and  of  the  beautiful  lakes 
opposite.  I  then  showed  them  the  same  things  on  a 
raised  map,  and  they  immediately  recognized  the  locali- 
ties, and  were  soon  able  to  do  the  same  on  an  ordinary 
map.  From  that  day  geography  was  no  longer  a  dry 
study,  but  a  desirable  part  of  their  education." 

2.  Use  the  school  globe  daily  for  several  weeks,  show- 
ing your  pupils  the  grand  divisions,  the  oceans,  the  equa- 
tor, the  poles,  etc.      Send  every  pupil  by  turns  to  the 
globe.     [See  Part  III.,  "  Geography,"  sec.  i.] 

3.  The  method  of  beginning  with  outlines  and  after- 
wards filling  in  with  details  must,  to  a  certain  extent,  be 
carried  on  paripassu  with  that  of  laying  a  foundation  of 
correct  notions  based  upon  a  knowledge  of  local  geogra- 
phy.   The  extent  of  local  lessons,  however,  is  limited ;  and, 
beyond  the  limit  of  personal  observation  by*  pupils,  it 
seems  to  be  the  better  plan  to  begin  with  the  grand  out- 
lines of  geography.      Unless  children  have  travelled  a 
great  deal,  they  can  no  more  form  a  correct  notion  of  the 
size  of  their  native  State  than  they  can  of  the  United 
States  or  of  Asia.     A  great  deal  of  elementary  work  nee- 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOR   TEACHING   GEOGRAPHY.   159 

essarily  consists  in  getting  familiar  with  names  and  maps. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  too,  that  generalizations,  in 
order  to  be  of  any  value,  must  be  based  on  a  knowledge 
of  particulars. 

4.  In  using  the  school  text-book,  let  the  advance  les- 
son be  read  over  aloud  in  the  class,  and  then  direct  your 
scholars  to  mark  with  a  pencil  a  few  leading  points  to  be 
committed  to  memory,  certainly  not  more  than  from  one 
tenth  to  one  fourth  of  an  ordinary  lesson  of  descriptive 
text.     The  following  direction  from   the  Massachusetts 
State  Course  of  Instruction  embodies  a  valuable  general 
rule  for  guidance : 

"  As  travel  broadens  ideas,  so  will  the  study  of  geog- 
raphy, if  rightly  pursued ;  and  pupils  may  increase  the 
value  of  their  lessons  by  reading  books  of  travel  and  sto- 
ries of  great  explorers.  The  teacher  can  afford  to  deal 
sparingly  in  statistics,  latitudes,  longitudes,  areas,  and 
heights,  and  to  avoid  dry  definitions  and  detailed  map 
questions  that  lead  only  to  a  recital  of  names  of  places 
destitute  of  associations.  Such  knowledge  is  not  worth 
the  time  it  takes  to  acquire  it,  though  it  may  secure  rapid 
and  accurate  recitations." 

5.  In  the  lower  grades,  let  the  "map  lessons"  be  read 
aloud  in  the  class,  and  answered  with  open  book  in  the 
hands  of  the  pupils;   then  select  a  few  of  the  leading 
questions,  mark  them,  and  let  the  class  recite  them  from 
memory  at  the  next  lesson.      Supplement  these  lessons 
by  short  oral  descriptions  of  places  mentioned,  or  by  some 
interesting  facts  connected  with  them,  so  that  they  may 
be  remembered  by  the  aid  of  association. 

6.  Train  pupils  in  detail  on  the  geography  of  their  own 
State ;  then,  in  a  more  general  way,  on  their  section  ;  and, 


160  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

finally,  on  a  few  main  points  on  the  United  States  as  a 
whole.  Do  not  attempt  to  overload  the  memory  with 
the  local  geography  of  all  the  States,  as  given  in  most  of 
the  text-books.  As  the  school  geographies  are  designed 
for  use  in  all  parts  of  our  country,  they  are  necessarily 
crowded  with  details  to  meet  the  wants  of  each  State  or 
locality.  The  sensible  teacher  will  omit  all  that  properly 
belongs  to  the  local  geography  of  States  other  than  that 
in  which  the  pupil  resides. 

"Most  of  the  geographies,"  says  Superintendent  Eliot, 
"contain  an  extraordinary  amount  of  matter,  not  only 
useless  to  the  few  who  can  master  it,  but  injurious  to  the 
many  who  cannot." 

7.  Do  not  expect  your  pupils  to  know  more  of  a  lesson 
than  you  remember  without  referring  to  the  text-book. 
If  you  forget  details,  it  is  a  sure  sign  that  your  pupils 
will,  and  therefore  it  is  best  not  to  require  such  details  to 
be  learned  at  all. 

8.  Having  fixed  on  the  main  outlines  to  be  learned,  take 
frequent  reviews  upon  them  in  order  to  fix  them  firmly 
in  the  memory.     [See  Part  IIL,  "  Geography,"  sec.  vii.] 

9.  It  is  almost  impossible  for  children  to  remember  the 
name  and  location  of  a  place  unless  some  association  is 
connected  with  it.     You  must  illuminate  geography  by 
means  of  history  and  descriptions. 

10.  If  you  have  a  good  relief  globe,  make  use  of  it  reg- 
ularly, even  in  your  higher  grades.    Use  the  outline  maps 
also.     Secure,  if  possible,  a  set  of  cheap  German  papier- 
mache  relief  maps  of  the  grand  divisions.     The  cost  is 
trifling,  and  the  value  great.     From  these  maps,  the  pu- 
pil will  be  able,  in  a  few  hours,  to  form  an  idea  of  pla- 
teaus, mountain-ranges,  plains,  and  general  configuration 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOR  TEACHING   GEOGRAPHY.    161 

that  an  ordinary  map  fails  to  give,  and  which  no  verbal 
descriptions  can  convey. 

11.  It  will  be  a  pleasant  variation  from  routine  work 
to  let  your  pupils  write   short   compositions  about  the 
countries  included  in  their  regular  text-book  descriptions, 
or  about  imaginary  voyages  or  travels. 

12.  In  general,  blackboard  map-drawing  in  the  rough 
is  better  than  labored  drawings  with  pen  or  pencil.    Map- 
drawing  should  not  be  made  a  hobby  of;  kept  within  due 
limits,  the  exercise  is  good,  but  it  often  runs  into  a  waste 
of  time  and  labor. 

13.  Let  beginners  draw  first  a  map  of  the  schoolroom, 
then  of  the  schoolhouse  and  grounds.     As  they  advance, 
let  them  draw  upon  the  blackboard,  from  the  open  book, 
on  a  large  scale,  an  outline  map  of  their  own  State,  and, 
if  possible,  of  their  own  county.     Then  let  them  outline 
the  grand  divisions,  etc.     Finally,  require  them  to  outline 
off-hand,  from  memory. 

14.  Require  every  class  to  draw  on  the  blackboards,  at 
least  once  a  year,  an  outline  map  of  their  own  State  and 
of  the  United  States. 

15.  Relieve  the  monotony  of  daily  lessons  by  exercises 
intended  to  stimulate  and  amuse.     Show  pupils  the  pict- 
ures, from  illustrated  magazines  or  papers,  of  beautiful  or 
grand  scenery,  or  of  great  natural  curiosities,  and  read  any 
short,  vivid  description  of  them  by  travellers. 

I.    GEOGRAPHY    MATCHES. 

Every  pupil  that  fails,  or  repeats  a  name  given  before, 
must  sit  down.  Continue  until  all  but  one  are  seated. 

1.  Name  a  city  in  the  United  States,  and  tell  in  what 
State  it  is. 


162  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

2.  Name  a  river  in  the  United  States,  and  tell  into  what 
it  flows. 

3.  Name  a  city  anywhere  on  the  globe,  and  tell  in  what 
country  it  is. 

4.  Name  any  river  on  the  globe,  and  tell  into  what  it 
flows. 

5.  Name  a  sea,  and  tell  where  it  is. 

6.  Name  some   useful  vegetable   production,  and  tell 
where  it  grows. 

7.  Name  some  manufactured  article,  and  tell  where  it 
is  made. 

8.  Name  some  cabinet  curiosity,  and  tell  where  it  may 
be  found. 

9.  Name  a  town  or  city  in  our  country  beginning  with 
the  letter  B,  C,  etc. 

10.  Name  a  country  or  a  state;  and  give  its  capital 
city. 

11.  Let  the  first  pupil  name  a  city  or  town,  and  tell  in 
what  country  or  state  it  is;  the  next  in  order  must  name 
another  beginning  with  the  last  letter  of  the  town  or  city 
previously  named  ;  and  so  on. 

II.    CLASS    EXERCISES    IN    GEOGRAPHY. 

I.  Let  one  pupil  describe   some  city,  and  the  others 
guess  the  name  of  it. 

II.  Let  one  pupil  think  of  some  city  in  the  United 
States,  and  the  others  guess  its  name  by  questioning  as 
follows : 

1.  Is  it  in  the  Northern,  Southern,  Middle,  or  Western 
States?    Ans.  Northern. 

2.  Is  it  a  seaport,  or  an  inland  city  ?     Ans.  A  seaport. 

3.  Is  it  a  large  city,  or  a  small  one?     Ans.  A  large  city. 


CONDENSED   DIRECTIONS   FOE   TEACHING    GEOGKAPHY.    163 

4.  Is  it  New  York  ?    Ans.  No. 

5.  Was  a  battle  ever  fought  there  ?     Ans.  Yes. 

6.  Is  it  Boston  ?     Ans.  Yes. 

III.  Let  one  scholar  describe  some  river,  and  the  others 
guess  its  name. 

IY.  Let  one  pupil  name  some  city  situated  on  a  river, 
and  the  others  tell  the  name  of  the  river. 

Y.  Let  the  teacher  take  an  imaginary  voyage,  exchang- 
ing products  at  various  ports — the  pupils  to  guess  the 
ports. 


164:  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

1.  "WHOEVER  undertakes  to  instruct  youth  in  history," 
says  the  German  educator  Niemeyer,  "  as  the  value  of  that 
science  requires,  must  regard  equally  the  memory,  the  un- 
derstanding, and  the  feelings." 

2.  There  is  no  "patent  method"  for  teaching  history. 
In  this  study,  more  than  in  most  other  elementary  school 
branches,  the  teacher,  by  his  skill,  tact,  and  stores  of  in- 
formation, must  clothe  the  skeleton  of  facts  with  the  flesh 
of  imagination,  and  breathe  into  it  the  breath  of  life. 
But,  rightly  pursued,  it  has  the  two  characteristics  of  a 
useful  study — namely,  good  mental  exercise  and  useful 
information. 

3.  Let  the  advance  lesson  in  the  text  -  book  be  read 
aloud  in  the  class.     Call  attention  to  the  leading  facts  to 
be  memorized,  and  let  the  pupils  mark  them  with  a  pen- 
cil.   A  considerable  part  of  the  history  is  intended,  not  to 
be  memorized,  but  merely  to  be  read. 

4.  Of  the  early  discoveries  treated  of  so  fully  in  the 
text-book,  single  out  three  or  four  to  be  learned,  and  let 
the  remainder  alone.     In  the  period  of  settlements,  se- 
lect the  four  great  centres — namely,  Virginia,  Massachu- 
setts, New  York,  and  Pennsylvania ;  the  remaining  settle- 
ments belong  properly  to  local  State  history.     Out  of  the 
numberless  details  of  Indian  and  colonial  wars,  select  only 


HISTORY    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  165 

half  a  dozen  important  points;  let  the  rest  go  as  local 
State  history.  So  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  single  out  a 
very  few  marked  events,  arid  have  them  learned  so  that 
they  cannot  be  forgotten.  Dwell  at  length  on  events 
that  happened  in  the  pupil's  own  State. 

5.  Do  not  attach  much   importance   to   chronological 
tables  except  for  reference.     Fix  in  the  minds  of  your 
pupils  the  dates  of  a  few  great  events,  and  fasten  them 
there  by  frequent  reviews.     A  multitude  of  minor  dates 
may  be  temporarily  learned  for  to-day's  lesson,  only  to  bo 
crowded  into  oblivion  by  to-morrow's  recitation.     "By 
means  of  history,"  says  Montaigne,  "  the  pupil  enjoys  in- 
tercourse with  the  great  men  of  the  best  periods ;  but  he 
must  learn,  not  so  much  the  year  and  the  day  of  the  de- 
struction of  a  city,  as  noble  traits  of  character;  not  so 
much  occurrences,  as  to  form  a  correct  judgment  upon 
them."     Examination  questions,  unfortunately,  too  often 
run  to  dates,  because  such  questions  are  easiest  to  be  asked 
from  the  book,  and  easiest  to  be  credited. 

6.  Require  pupils  to  become  familiar  with  the  details 
of  the  history  of  the  State  in  which  they  live. 

7.  Fix  in  the  memory  the  causes  and  the  results  of  the 
War  of  the  Revolution  and  of  1812,  of  the  Mexican  War 
and  the  War  of  Secession ;  but  do  not  attempt  to  make 
pupils  remember  the  dates  of  many  battles. 

8.  Short  biographical  sketches  of  the  great  men  in  our 
history  are  both  interesting  and  valuable,  if  they  show 
how,  by  their  character  and  abilities,  they  improved  the 
condition  of  their  nation  ami  of  the  wrorld. 

9.  In  written  exercises,  train  pupils  to  correct  one  an- 
other's work. 

10.  A  comprehension  of  the  great  facts  of  history,  of 


166  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

their  causes,  results,  and  relations,  is  more  important  than 
the  verbatim  memorizing  of  pages  of  text-books. 

11.  In  questions  for  written  examinations,  confine  your- 
self strictly  to  leading  events.    Include  as  few  dates  as  pos- 
sible. Teaching  chronological  tables  is  not  teaching  history. 

12.  As  much  as  possible  assign  lessons  by  topics,  and 
require  pupils  to  recite  in  their  own  language.     Close  the 
text-book  yourself,  and  you  will  be  better  satisfied  with 
your  scholars'  answers. 

13.  Supplement  the  dry,  condensed  statements  of  the 
text-book  by  anecdotes,  incidents,  stories,  and  biographical 
sketches  of  noted  men,  drawn  from  your  own  memory 
or  from  good  books.     If  you  are  a  good  story-teller,  you 
will  thus  make  history  charming  to  your  pupils.     Under 
the  dead  mass  of  dates  and  political   events,  you  must 
kindle  the  fire  of  enthusiasm  by  familiar  narrative.     "If 
you  tell  a  boy,"  said  a  famous  teacher,  "  that  in  a  certain 
battle  General  Smith  had  his  horse's  tail  shot  off,  he  will 
never  forget  that,  though  all  else  soon  becomes  a  blank." 

14.  Call  the  attention  of  pupils  to  the  progress  of  the 
nation  in  the  arts  and  sciences ;  to  the  great  inventions 
and  discoveries  that  have  been  made ;  to  everything  that 
has  improved  the  condition  of  the  people.     Lead  them  to 
perceive  that,  though  history  is  hardly  anything  but  a  rec- 
ord of  wars  and  conquerors,  yet  "Peace  hath  her  victories 
no  less  renowned  than  those  of  war,"  and  that  the  most 
glorious  victory  of  war  is  that  which  establishes  an  honor- 
able peace. 

15.  "  To  the  youthful  spirit,"  says  Russell,  "  the  great 
attraction  of  history  lies  in  its  pictures  of  life  and  action, 
and  in  the  sympathies  which  these  evoke.     To  the  juve- 
nile reader  all  history  is  biography."    "  All  history,"  says 


HISTOEY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.          '  167 

Emerson,  "resolves  itself  very  easily  into  the  biography 
of  a  few  stout  and  earnest  persons." 

16.  "  Of  all  departments  of  early  teaching,"  says  Bain, 
"  none  is  so  unmanageable  as  history.  Its  protean  phases 
of  information  and  of  interest,  its  constant  mixture  of 
what  attracts  the  youngest  with  what  is  intelligible  only 
to  the  maturest  minds,  renders  it  especially  troublesome  in 
early  teaching.  Nothing  comes  sooner  home  to  the  child 
than  narratives  of  human  beings  —  their  pursuits,  their 
passions,  their  successes  and  their  disasters,  their  virtues 
and  their  vices,  their  rewards  and  their  punishments,  their 
enmities  and  their  friendships,  their  failures  and  their 
triumphs." 

CLASS    EXERCISES    IN    HISTORY. 

1.  Call  upon  each  pupil  in  turn  to  name  some  person 
distinguished  in  the  history  of  our  country,  and  to  state 
something  that  he  did. 

2.  To  name  some  important  battle,  and  tell  something 
about  it. 

3.  To  name  some  settlement,  and  tell  who  made  it. 

4.  Let  one  pupil  describe  some  noted  person,  and  allow 
the  class  to  guess  the  name. 

5.  Describe  some  important  event,  and  let  the  class  tell 
when  and  where  it  happened. 

6.  Give  one  or  more  facts  as  a  cause  ^  and  let  the  class 
state  one  or  more  facts  as  a  result. 

7.  Let  one  pupil  think  of  some  noted  historical  person, 
place,  or  event,  and  the  others  ask  questions  to  ascertain 
what  is  thought  of  by  that  pupil.     [See  "  Geography."] 

8.  Let  one  pupil  think  of  some  historical  character,  and 
then  give  to  the  class  circumstance  after  circumstance, 
until  some  one  is  able  to  guess  the  name. 


168  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

OBJECT-LESSONS  AND  THE   ELEMENTS  OF  NATURAL 
.SCIENCE. 

I.   HINTS    ON    OBJECT-LESSONS. 

»  1.  "  THE  first  teaching  a  child  wants,"  says  Huxley,  "  ie 
an  object-lesson  of  one  sort  or  another ;  and  as  soon  as  it 
is  fit  for  systematic  instruction,  it  is  fit  for  a  modicum  of 
science." 

2.  The  main  purpose  of  object-lessons  is,  not  to  crowd 
the  memory  with  facts  and  names,  but  to  train  children  to 
observe,  and  to  tell  what  they  are  able  to  find  out  about 
things. 

"  Observation,"  says  Pestalozzi,  "  is  the  absolute  basis 
of  all  knowledge.  The  first  object,  then,  in  education 
must  be  to  lead  a  child  to  observe  with  accuracy ;  the  sec- 
ond, to  express  with  correctness  the  result  of  his  observa- 
tions." 

3.  Begin  with  things  that  most  of  your  pupils  already 
know  something  about,  adhering  strictly  to  the  principle 
of  examining  real  objects,  when  they  are  procurable ;  and, 
when  not,  of  using  pictures.     Agassiz,  having  been  asked 
to  give  some  instruction  on  insects  at  a  teacher's  institute, 
says,  "I  thought  the  best  way  to  proceed  would  be  to 
place  the  objects  in  the  hands  of  the  teachers,  for  I  knew 
that  mere  verbal  instruction  would  not  be  transformed 
into  actual  knowledge.     I  therefore  went  out  and  collect- 
ed several  hundred  grasshoppers,  brought  them  in,  and 


OBJECT-LESSONS  AND  ELEMENTS  OF  NATUEAL  SCIENCE.    1G9 

gave  one  into  the  hands  of  every  one  present.  It  created 
universal  laughter ;  yet  the  examination  of  these  objects 
had  not  been  carried  on  long  before  every  one  was  inter- 
ested, and,  instead  of  looking  at  me,  looked  at  the  thing. 
And  they  began  to  examine,  and  to  appreciate  what  it  was 
to  see,  and  see  carefully.  At  first  I  pointed  out  the  things 
which  no  one  could  see.  '  We  can't  see  them,'  they  said. 
1  But  look  again,'  "said  1, 4  for  I  can  see  things  ten  times 
smaller  than  these ;'  and  they  finally  discerned  them." 

This,  which  is  the  true  kind  of  object-teaching,  is  worth 
introducing  into  the  schools,  if  for  no  other  purpose  than 
the  training  of  the  eye.  There  is  an  old  proverb,  "  See- 
ing is  believing,"  which  cannot  be  said  of  the  other  senses. 
Also,  "  What  is  seen  is  easily  remembered ;"  but  "  what 
goes  in  at  one  ear  generally  goes  out  at  the  other." 

4.  Do  not  be  over- scientific.     Avoid  technical  terms 
when  common  names  will  serve  your  purpose.    "  It  is  not 
science  that  we  want  here,"  says  Superintendent  Eliot ; 
"  much  less  is  it  the  lion's  skin  sometimes  wrapped  round 
the  pretence  of  science,  but  the  simple  truth." 

5.  Endeavor  to  train  your  scholars  to  observe  accurately, 
to  be  sure  of  facts,  to  think  for  themselves,  to  reason  cor- 
rectly, and  not  to  make  up  their  minds  until  they  have 
reflected  carefully  upon  all  the  facts. 

6.  Train  your  pupils  to  write  out  on  slates  or  paper 
what  they  can  remember  about  their  oral  lessons.     Writ- 
ing leads  to  habits  of  attention,  serves  to  fix  ideas  in  the 
memory,  and  leads  to  a  ready  and  correct  use  of  language. 

7.  The  uses  of  the  object-lesson  may  be  summed  up  as 
follows : 

(1.)  They  constitute  the  first  efforts  in  gaining  an  em- 
pirical knowledge  of  things. 


170  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

(2.)  They  train  the  mind  to  habits  of  connected  thought 
(3.)  They  stimulate  curiosity,  the  motive  power  of  the 
youthful  mind. 

8.  "  The  teacher,"  says  Bain,  "  can  make  anything  he 
pleases  out  of  the  object-lesson ;  it  may  aid  the  conceiving 
faculty,  or  it  may  not.     The  first  good  effect  of  it  is  to 
waken  up  observation  to  things  within  the  pupil's  ken ; 
by  asking  such  questions  as  will  send  them  back  to  re-ex- 
amine what  they  have  been  in  the  habit  of  slurring  over, 
or  by  questioning  them  on  objects  actually  present." 

9.  "  The  predominant  aspect  of  the  object-lesson,"  says 
Currie,  "  is  the  mental  exercises  it  gives ;  it  is  meant  to 
awaken  the  intelligence,  and  to  cultivate  the  different 
phases  of  observation,  conception,  and  taste,  without  whicli 
little  satisfactory  progress  can  be  made  in  education.     It 
is  a  disciplining,  not  a  utilitarian  process ;  the  information 
it  gives  is  a  means,  not  an  end. 

"  The  range  of  this  department  of  instruction  is  exceed- 
ingly comprehensive.  It  draws  its  materials  from  all  the 
branches  of  knowledge,  dealing  with  things  which  can  in- 
terest the  child  or  exercise  his  mind.  Thus,  it  is  natural 
history  for  children ;  for  it  directs  their  attention  to  ani- 
mals of  all  classes,  domestic  and  others,  their  qualities, 
habits,  and  uses ;  to  trees  and  plants  and  flowers ;  to  the 
metals,  and  other  minerals  which,  from  their  properties, 
are  in  constant  use.  It  is  physical  science  for  children ; 
for  it  leads  them  to  observe  the  phenomena  of  the  heavens 
— sun, moon,  and  stars;  the  seasons,  with  the  light  and  heat 
which  make  the  changes  of  the  weather ;  and  the  proper- 
ties of  the  bodies  which  form  the  mass  of  matter  around 
us.  It  is  domestic  economy  for  children ;  for  it  exhibits 
to  them  the  things  and  processes  daily  used  in  their  homes, 


OBJECT-LESSONS  AND  ELEMENTS  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCE.    171 

and  the  way  to  use  them  rightly.  It  is  industrial  and  so- 
cial economy  for  children  ;  for  it  describes  the  various 
trades,  processes  in  different  walks  of  art,  and  the  arrange- 
ments as  to  the  division  of  labor  which  society  has  sanc- 
tioned for  carrying  these  on  in  harmony  and  mutual  de- 
pendence. It  is  physiology  for  children ;  for  it  tells  them 
of  their  own  bodies,  and  the  uses  of  the  various  members 
for  physical  and  mental  ends,  with  the  way  to  use  them 
best  and  to  avoid  their  abuse.  It  is  the  science  of  com- 
mon things  for  children  ;  for  it  disregards  nothing  which 
can  come  under  their  notice  in  their  intercourse  with  their 
fellows  or  their  superiors.  And,  finally,  it  is  geography 
for  children ;  since  it  has  favorite  subjects  of  illustration 
in  mountain  and  river,  forest,  plain,  and  desert,  the  differ- 
ent climates  of  the  earth,  with  their  productions  and  the 
habits  of  their  people,  the  populous  city,  and  the  scattered 
wigwams  of  the  savage." 

II.   THE    ELEMENTS    OF    NATURAL    SCIENCE. 

1.  In  most  of  the  common -schools,  instruction  in  the 
elements  of  natural  science,  if  given  at  all,  must  be  given 
in  the  form  of  oral  lessons,  without  a  text-book  in  the 
hands  of  pupils.     Hence  teachers  must  select  for  their 
own  use  the  best  possible  science  primers  in  the  different 
branches  of  natural  science,  and  from  those,  or  from  their 
own  knowledge,  outline  their  own  course  of  instruction. 

2.  At  the  outset,  train  your  pupils  to  use  their  eyes,  to 
examine  things,  to  observe  phenomena,  and  to  make  ex- 
periments.    "Experiment,"  says  Huxley,  "is  the  great 
instrument  for  the  ascertainment  of  truth  in  physical  sci- 
ence.    Mere  book  learning  in  physical  science  is  a  sham] 
and  a  delusion  ;  what  you  teach  you  must  first  know,  aucH 

J 


172  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

real  knowledge  in  science  means  personal  acquaintance 
with  facts,  be  they  few  or  many." 

3.  Begin  at  once  the  collection  of  a  school  cabinet,  and 
invite  your  pupils  to  bring  in  specimens.      Encourage 
them  to  make  collections  for  a  home-cabinet,  of  minerals, 
shells,  woods,  etc.     Take  them  on  collecting  tours  into 
the  fields  and  forests.    "  The  elements  of  botany,  zoology, 
and  mineralogy,"  says  Eussell,  "afford  a  delightful  and 
effective  means  of  training  to  habits  of  observing,  com- 
paring, and  classifying." 

4.  By  wisely  put  questions,  set  your  pupils  to  observ- 
ing the  habits  of  animals  and  birds,  of  ants,  bees,  wasps, 
flies,  and  butterflies.     Encourage  them  to  make  collec- 
tions of  butterflies  and  beetles.     Let  the  older  boys  try 
their  hand  at  stuffing  birds.    Persuade  your  pupils  to  buy 
a  magnifying-glass  or  a  cheap  microscope,  and  begin  ex- 
amining things  for  themselves.     "  For  many  years,"  says 
Carlyle,  "  it  has  been  one  of  my  constant  regrets  that  no 
schoolmaster  of  mine  had  a  knowledge  of  natural  history, 
so  far,  at  least,  as  to  have  taught  me  the  grasses  that  grow 
by  the  wayside,  and  the  little  winged  and  wingless  neigh- 
bors that  are  continually  meeting  me  with  a  salutation 
which  I  cannot  answer  as  things  are.     Why  didn't  some- 
body teach  me  the  constellations,  too,  and  make  me  at 
home  in  the  starry  heavens  which  are  always  overhead, 
and  which  I  don't  half  know  to  this  day." 

5.  If  you  wish  to   succeed,  you   must  do  the  actual 
work  of  the  naturalist,  and  must  make  your  pupils  do  it. 
You  must  fit  yourself  to  do  this  work  by  taking  an  inter- 
est in  it.     It  is  not  at  all  necessary  that  you  should  be  a 
specialist  in  botany,  zoology,  or  natural  philosophy ;  but 
it  is  necessary  that  you  should  know  something  about  the 


OBJECT-LESSONS  AND   ELEMENTS  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCE.    173 

true  methods  of  the  specialist.  Taken  up  in  the  right 
spirit,  instruction  in  the  natural  sciences  can  be  made  one 
of  the  most  effective  means  of  education.  "  No  subjects," 
says  Professor  Barnard,  "are  better  suited  than  botany, 
zoology,  and  mineralogy  to  gratify  the  eager  curiosity  of 
the  growing  mind ;  to  satisfy  its  cravings  after  positive 
knowledge ;  to  keep  alive  the  activity  of  the  perceptive 
powers ;  to  illustrate  the  beauty  and  value  of  method,  and 
to  lead  to  the  formation  of  methodical  habits  of  thought." 

6.  In  physics,  make  your  experiments  with  the  sim- 
plest kind  of  improvised  apparatus.   "Whenever  you  make 
an  experiment,  however  simple,  make  it  with  great  care 
and  exactness,  telling  your  pupils  in  advance  what  to 
expect  and  what  to  observe.     Encourage  them  to  make 
simple  experiments  at  home  by  themselves.     Set  them 
to  observing  natural  phenomena,  such  as  rain,  hail,  snow, 
dew,  frost,  changes  of  seasons,  etc.     "The  elements  of 
physics,"  says  Hotze,  "  are  no  more  difficult  for  pupils 
than  are  the  elements  of  arithmetic."     "As  a  means  of 
intellectual  culture,"  says  Tyndall,  "  the  study  of  physics 
exercises  and  sharpens  observation." 

7.  In  giving  the  outlines  of  physiology,  make  use  of 
real  objects  as  far  as  practicable.     The  heart  and  lungs 
of  a  sheep  or  an  ox  can  easily  be  obtained,  and  are  always 
better  than  models  or  charts  or  pictures.    If  human  bones 
cannot  be  obtained,  take  the  bones  of  animals  and  make  a 
lesson  in  comparative  anatomy.    Dissect  the  eye  of  an  ox, 
the  brain  of  a  sheep  or  calf  or  rabbit,  and  exhibit  the  skull 
of  any  domestic  or  wild  animal.     The  chief  object  of  les- 
sons in  anatomy  and  physiology  is  to  make  them  the 
means  of  imparting  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  health. 
Reiterate  practical  directions  about  cleanliness,  ventila- 


174:  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

tion,  food,  work,  rest,  play,  sleep,  and  regular  habita 
Preach  short  sermons  against  idleness,  gluttony,  intem- 
perance, and  impurity.  Teach  your  pupils  that  without 
health  life  is  a  failure,  and  make  them  realize  as  fully  as 
possible  that  they  must  themselves  take  care  of  their  own 
health. 

8.  In  botany, begin  with  collecting  and  examining  plants, 
and  end  in  classifying  and  naming  them  by  referring  to 
text-books.     "Now,  to  learn  to  classify,"  says  Bain,  "is 
itself  an  education.     In  these  natural  -  history  branches 
the  art  has  been  of  necessity  attended  to,  and  is  shown  in 
the  highest  state  of  advancement.    Botany  is  the  most 
complete  in  its  method,  which  is  one  of  the  recommen- 
dations of  the  science  in  early  education.    Mineralogy 
and  zoology  have  greater  difficulties  to  contend  with ;  so 
that  where  they  succeed,  their  success  is  all  the  greater." 

9.  First  in  the  order  of  nature  comes  empirical  knowl- 
edge; afterwards,  scientific   knowledge.     Therefore,  the 
younger  the  children,  the  less  methodical  should  be  their 
instruction.    Beginners  store  up  facts  by  items,  often  in 
an  indirect  and  desultory  manner. 

10.  Mere  text-book  study  of  natural  science,  without  ob- 
servation and  experiment  by  the  pupil,  is  not  knowledge. 
The  real  guide  to  true  knowledge  is  a  habit  of  observing. 
"Learn  to  make  a  right  use  of  your  eyes,"  says  Hugh 
Miller;   "the   commonest  things  are  worth  looking  at, 
even  stones,  and  weeds,  and  the  most  familiar  animals." 
Agassiz  says,  "  The  difficult  art  of  thinking,  of  comparing, 
of  discriminating,  can  be  more  readily  acquired  by  exam- 
ining natural  objects  for  ourselves  than  in  any  other  way." 

11.  Skilful  questioning  by  the   teacher  is   the  chief 
means  of  awakening  thought,  and  of  inducing  pupils  to 


OBJECT-LESSONS  AND  ELEMENTS  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCE.    175 

observe  for  themselves.  Superintendent  Eliot  says,  "  Wo 
teach  best  when  we  seem  to  teach  least.  .  Tell  the  child 
a  fact,  and  it  is  all  your  telling.  Lead  him  to  find  it 
himself,  and  it  seems  to  him  all  his  finding.  Because  it 
seems  so,  he  is  interested  in  it,  and  his  interest  secures 
his  mastery  of  it." 

12.  Stimulate  and  encourage  curiosity.     Faraday  says, 
"  I  am  indebted  to  curiosity  for  whatever  progress  I  have 
made  in  science.     There  are  common  experiments  which 
I  perform  now  with  as  much  glee  at  the  result  as  when  I 
was  a  boy."     Lead  your  pupils  into  the  practice  of  pro- 
posing questions   in   the   class.      "If  not   snubbed   and 
stunted,"  says  Huxley,  "by  being  told  not  to  ask  foolish 
questions,  there  is  no  limit  to  the  intellectual  craving  of 
a  young  child,  nor  any  bounds  to  the  slow  but  solid  ac- 
cretion of  knowledge,  and  the  development  of  the  think- 
ing faculty  in  this  way." 

13.  As  to  methods  in  specific  lessons,  the  following  di- 
rections by  Superintendent  Harris  are  to  the  point :  "  Pre- 
pare yourself  beforehand  on  the  subject  of  the  lesson  of 
the  week,  fixing  in  your  mind  exactly  what  subjects  you 
will  bring  up,  just  what  definitions  and  illustrations  you 
will  give  or  draw  out  of  the  class.     All  must  be  marked 
and  written  down  in  the  form  of  a  synopsis.     The  black- 
board is  the  most  valuable  appliance  in  oral  lessons :  on 
it  should  be  written  the  technical  words  discussed,  the 
classification  of  the  knowledge  brought  out  in  the  recita- 
tion, and,  whenever  possible,  illustrative  drawings.    Pains 
should  be  taken  to  select  passages  from  the  reference 
books,  or  from  other  books  illustrative  of  the  subject  un- 
der discussion,  to  be  read  to  the  class  with  explanation 
and  conversation.    Wherever  the  subject  is  of  such  a  nat« 


176  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

ure  as  to  allow  of  it,  the  teacher  should  bring  in  real  ol> 
jects  illustrative  of  it,  and  encourage  the  children  to  do 
the  same.  But  more  stress  should  be  laid  on  a  direct  ap- 
peal to  their  experience,  encouraging  them  to  describe 
what  they  have  seen  and  heard,  and  arousing  habits  of 
reflection,  and  enabling  the  pupil  to  acquire  a  good  com- 
mand of  language.  Great  care  must  be  taken  by  the 
teacher  not  to  burden  the  pupil  with  too  many  new  tech- 
nical phrases  at  a  time,  nor  to  fall  into  the  opposite  error 
of  using  only  the  loose,  common  vocabulary  of  ordinary 
life,  which  lacks  scientific  precision." 

III.    QUOTATIONS    FROM    EDUCATORS. 

I.  "For  discipline  as  well  as  for  guidance,  science  is 
of  the  chiefest  value.     In  all  its  effects,  learning  the  value 
of  things  is  better  than  learning  the  meaning  of  words. 
Whether  for  intellectual,  moral,  or  religious  training,  the 
study  of  surrounding  phenomena  is  immensely  superior 
to  the  study  of  grammars  and  lexicons." — Spencer. 

II.  "  The  processes  by  which  truth  is  attained — reason- 
ing and  observation — have  been  carried  to  their  greatest 
known  perfection  in  the  physical  sciences.     As  classical 
literature  furnishes  the  most  perfect  types  of  the  art  of 
expression,  so  do  the  physical  sciences  those  of  the  art  of 
thinking.     Mathematics,  and  its  application  to  astronomy 
and  natural  philosophy,  are  the  most  complete  example 
of  the  discovery  of  truths  by  reasoning ;  experimental 
science,  of  their  discovery  by  direct  observation." — John 
Stuart  Mill. 

III.  "  In  childhood  there  is  a  vast  capability  of  accu- 
mulating simple  facts.     The  higher  forms  of  mental  ac- 
tivity not  having  come  into  exercise,  the  whole  plastic 


OBJECT-LESSONS  AND  ELEMENTS  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCE.    177 

power  of  the  brain  is  devoted  to  the  storing-up  of  per- 
ceptions, while  the  vigor  of  cerebral  growth  insures  the 
highest  intensity  of  mental  adhesiveness.  When  curios- 
ity is  freshest  and  the  perceptions  keenest,  and  the  mem- 
ory most  impressible,  before  the  maturity  of  the  reflective 
powers,  the  opening  mind  should  be  led  to  the  art  of  no- 
ticing the  aspects,  properties,  and  simple  relations  of  the 
surrounding  objects  of  nature." — Youmans. 

IV.  "  But  if  scientific  training  is  to  yield  its  most  emi- 
nent results,  it  must,  I  repeat,  be  made  practical.  That  is 
to  say,  in  explaining  to  a  child  the  general  phenomena  of 
nature,  you  must,  as  far  as  possible,  give  reality  to  your 
teaching  by  object-lessons.  In  teaching  him  botany,  he 
must  handle  the  plants  and  dissect  the  flowers  for  him- 
self;  in  teaching  him  physics  and  chemistry,  you  must 
not  be  solicitous  to  fill  him  with  information,  but  you 
must  be  careful  that  what  he  learns,  he  knows  of  his  own 
knowledge.  Don't  be  satisfied  with  telling  him  that  a 
magnet  attracts  iron.  Let  him  see  that  it  does ;  let  him 
feel  the  pull  of  the  one  upon  the  other  for  himself.  And, 
especially,  tell  him  that  it  is  his  duty  to  doubt,  until  he  is 
compelled  by  the  absolute  authority  of  nature  to  believe, 
that  which  is  written  in  books.  Pursue  this  discipline 
carefully  and  conscientiously,  and  you  may  make  sure 
that,  however  scanty  may  be  the  measure  of  information 
which  you  have  poured  into  the  boy's  mind,  you  have 
created  an  intellectual  habit  of  priceless  value  in  practical 
life." — Huxley. 

&* 


178  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
WETTING  AND  DKAWING. 

I.   HINTS    ON    WRITING. 

1.  MAKE  a  judicious  use  of  whatever  series  of  copy- 
books is  officially  adopted  for  your  school.     Penmanship 
is  essential  as  a  mechanical  means  for  acquiring  and  con- 
veying information.    But  do  not  make  your  pupils  slaves 
to   "elements,"  "analysis,"  "proportion,"  "harmonies," 
and  an  endless  series  of  engraved  lessons.     Penmanship 
is  learned,  in  the  main,  by  imitation  and  practice. 

2.  With  beginners,  during  the  first  school  year,  put 
your  copies  on  the  blackboard,  and  let  your  pupils  imitate 
them  on  the  blackboard.      Little  children  like  writing 
with  chalk  in  large -hand,  because  the  teacher  and  the 
class  see  their  work.     Follow  these  lessons  by  slate-work. 

3.  Do  not  drill  beginners  on  elements,  principles,  or 
analysis,  but  put  them  at  once  to  writing  short  words,  and 
then  short  sentences,  as  in  reading.     In  fact,  reading  and 
writing  ought  to  be  carried  along  pari  passu. 

4.  Bear  in  mind  that  many  of  the  capital  letters  are  no 
harder  to  make  than  are  the  small  letters. 

5.  In  blackboard  lessons,  see  that  your  pupils  form  the 
habit  of  holding  a  crayon  properly,  and  give  a  drill  lesson 
occasionally  on  large  ovals  to   secure  freedom  of  arm- 
movement. 

6.  In  slate  writing,  use  only  long  pencils,  and  train 


WRITING   AND   DKAWING.  179 

your  children  to  hold  them  as  a  pen  is  held.  Give  fre- 
quent drill  movements  in  making  ovals,  running  m's,  etc., 
in  order  to  secure  freedom  of  arm  -  movements  and  an 
uasy  way  of  holding  the  pencil. 

7.  Give  attention  at  every  lesson  to  the  manner  of 
placing  the  slate  upon  the  desk,  and  to  the  position  of 
the  pupil  in  writing.     It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  break 
up  bad  habits  of  holding  a  pencil,  when  the  pencil  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  pen. 

8.  Do  not  sit  down  in  a  chair  behind  your  table,  as 
some  teachers  do,  but  go  about  among  your  scholars,  place 
their  slates  or  books  properly,  take  hold  of  their  rigid 
fingers,  and  show  them  how  to  hold  a  pen  easily  and 
properly.     It  is  not  enough  to  do  this  once,  it  must  be 
continued  for  years. 

9.  Train  pupils  from  the  beginning  to  write  with  a 
free  and  ready  movement,  not  the  slow,  constrained,  rigid, 
snail-like  tracing  that  is  often  current  in  school. 

10.  The  use  of  engraved  copy-books  is  indispensable 
in  school,  but  they  must  not  be  relied  on  exclusively. 
Let  copy-books  alternate  with  blank-books  in  which  to 
write  maxims,  rules  of  health,  choice  selections  of  prose 
and  poetry,  compositions,  etc.     When  pupils  are  able  to 
write  a  fair  business  hand,  drop  all  copy-books,  and  rely 
on   the  written   school   exercises.      Require   weekly  or 
monthly  specimens  from  every  pupil. 

11.  Upon  the  lowest  line  of  each  page  of  the  copy-book, 
require  the  pupil  to  write  his  name  and  age,  the  name  of 
the  school  and  class,  and  the  date  when  the  page  was 
finished. 

12.  Train  your  more  advanced  classes  on  the  elements, 
and  the  analysis  of  forms.     Point  out  the  defects  of  bad 


180  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

forms  and  the  merits  of  good  forms.  Require  your  pu* 
pils  to  make  on  the  blackboards  the  capital  letters  on  a 
large  scale,  and  let  them  criticise  one  another. 

13.  Do  not  attempt  to  make  the  older  scholars  write 
a  uniform  "  copy-book  hand,"  but  let  them  form  their 
own  characteristic  style.     The  main  thing  is  to  make  ev- 
ery letter  legible. 

14.  "Writing,  like  spelling  and  grammar,  is  capable  of 
self-development,  but  not  unless  many  of  the  books  pre- 
pared upon  purely  mechanical  principles  give  way  to  blank 
books  or  sheets,  which  our  children  may  use  with  greater 
freedom  of  hand  and  of  the  will  that  guides  it.    The  days 
of  copy-setting  were  better  than  those  of  copy-engraving, 
for  this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  that  the  teacher  wrote  for 
the  pupils,  as  well  as  the  pupils  for  him.     If  he  went  fur- 
ther, and  encouraged  them  to  write  out  passages  in  prose 
or  verse,  perhaps  helping  them  a  little  in  their  choice,  then 
those  days  were  a  great  deal  better,  and  we  had  better  re- 
vive their  practices." — Superintendent  Eliot. 

15.  "  A  corrupt  taste  in  regard  to  writing  has  been  for 
several  years  gradually  creeping  into  our  schools.     This 
corruption  consists  in  the  substitution  of  a  slender,  faint, 
and  weak  kind  of  writing,  with  certain  outlandish  and 
fanciful  capitals,  for  a  good,  honest,  plain,  neat,  firm,  clear, 
legible,  strong,  and  regular  hand." — John  D.  Philbrick. 

II.   HINTS    ON    DRAWING. 

1.  In  schools  where  a  series  of  text-books  on  drawing  is 
adopted,  teachers   must  master  the  instructions,  require 
their  pupils  to  fill  out  the  drawing-books,  and  teach  ac- 
cording to  the  system. 

2.  But  there  is  no  good  reason  why  the  "book-work," 


WRITING   AND   DRAWING.  181 

often  a  piece  of  drudgery,  should  not  be  supplemented  01 
introduced  by  exercises  in  harmony  with  the  child's  taste. 
"  Send  the  primary  children  to  the  blackboards,  and  let 
them  learn  to  handle  a  crayon  by  drawing  anything  they 
choose.  A  rude  outline  of  a  ship  delights  the  miniature 
man  more  than  a  geometrical  figure  does.  The  little  girl 
draws  a  rough  house,  but  she  invests  it  with  wondrous 
beauties.  Allow  full  play  for  what  most  drawing  teachers 
are  pleased  to  term  i  barbaric  art.'  The  child  is  a  young 
savage ;  let  him  pass  through  the  barbarian  stage  before 
entering  upon  the  scientific  and  artistic." 

In  country  schools,  where  no  regular  course  of  drawing 
is  adopted,  the  teacher  has  a  wide  field  for  the  exercise 
of  tact,  skill,  and  judgment.  In  addition  to  elementary 
exercises  previously  mentioned,  the  first  four  books  of 
Krusi's  Drawing  Series  will  furnish  excellent  copies  which 
can  be  put  upon  the  blackboard. 

Speaking  of  the  Prussian  schools,  Horace  Mann  says, 
"  The  child  is  taught  to  draw  things  with  which  he  is  fa- 
miliar, which  have  some  significance,  and  which  give  him 
pleasing  ideas.  The  practice  of  beginning  with  making 
inexpressive  marks  bears  some  resemblance,  in  its  lifeless- 
ness,  to  that  of  learning  the  alphabet.  Each  exhales  tor- 
por and  stupidity  to  deaden  the  vivacity  of  the  work." 

3.  Supply  the  little  ones  with  a  "Kindergarten  slate," 
ruled  in  small  squares.  The  directions  for  its  use  are  so 
simple  that  any  teacher  can  understand  them  in  an  hour. 
"  The  simpler  lessons  of  drawing,"  says  Bain,  "  are  obvi- 
ously easier  than  writing;  while  the  making  of  symmetri- 
cal shapes  is  more  agreeable  than  forming  letters.  Proba- 
bly the  natural  course  to  follow  would  be  the  method  of 
the  Kindergarten,  which  is  to  train  the  hand  upon  mould 


182  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

ing  objects  in  clay,  followed  by  cutting  out  paper  figures, 
and  gradually  leading  up  to  elementary  drawing;  after 
which  writing  would  come  with  comparative  ease,  but 
would  still  be  a  considerable  step  in  advance,  like  begin- 
ning a  trade." 

4.  Children  prefer  blackboard  drawing  to  exercises  on 
slates  or  paper,  because  their  drawings  are  on  a  larger 
scale,  and  because  their  work  can  be  seen  by  the  other 
children.     Direct  their  feeble  efforts,  but  leave  full  play 
to  individuality.    One  may  take  to  ships,  another  to  dogs, 
a  third  to  horses,  a  fourth  to  flowers. 

5.  Violate  all  laws  of  the  old-type  drawing  by  encour- 
aging the  children  to  bring  in  a  box  of  paints,  and  then 
set  them  to  work  at  coloring  all  the  old  picture-books  and 
wood-cuts  that  you  can  collect. 


III.  QUOTATIONS  FROM  EDUCATORS. 

I.  "  The  spreading  recognition  of  drawing  as  an  element 
of  education  is  one  among  many  signs  of  the  more  ra- 
tional views  on  mental  culture  now  beginning  to  prevail." 
— Spencer. 

II.  "  I  look  to  music,  drawing,  natural-history  lessons, 
elementary  science,  and  object-lessons,  to  protect  our  chil- 
dren from  over-education,  and  to  make  them  love  their 
childish  work ;  and  were  there  no  other  reason  for  the  in- 
troduction of  such  subjects  into  our  common-schools  than 
that,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  reason  sufficient." — 
Professor  Walter  Smith,  State  Director  of  Art  Education 
for  State  of  Massachusetts. 

III.  "  It  is  now  understood  by  well-informed  persons 
that  drawing  is  an  essential  branch  of  education,  and  that 
it  should  be  taught  to  every  child  who  is  taught  the  three 


WRITING  AND  DRAWING.  183 

R's.  It  is  indispensable  as  an  element  of  general  educa- 
tion, and  it  lies  at  tlie  very  foundation  of  all  technical  ed« 
ucation.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  any  human  occupa- 
tion to  which  education  in  this  branch  would  not  prove 
beneficial.  Everybody  needs  a  well -trained  eye  and  a 
well-trained  hand.  Drawing  is  the  proper  means  of  im- 
parting this  needed  training.  Drawing,  properly  taught^ 
is  calculated,  even  more  than  vocal  music,  perhaps,  to  fa« 
cilitate  instruction  in  all  other  branches  of  education." — 
John  D.  Philbrick. 

IV.  "  Commercially  speaking,  the  power  to  draw  well 
is  worth  more  in  the  market  to-day  than  anything  elso 
taught  in  the  public  schools ;  and  education  in  industrial 
art  is  of  more  importance  to  the  development  of  this 
country,  and  the  increase  of  her  wealth  and  reputation, 
than  any  other  subject  of  common-school  education.    The 
intelligent,  well-educated  draughtsman  is  prepared  for 
work  in  the  great  majority  of  industrial  occupations,  and 
in  every  country  of  the  civilized  world,  wherever  a  work- 
shop exists." —  Walter  Smith. 

V.  "Drawing,"  says  Superintendent  Dickinson, "  has  for 
its  object  that  training  of  the  hand  and  eye  which  lays  a 
foundation  for  skill  in  the  arts.     Such  training  leads  to 
that  appreciation  of  art  necessary  to  create  a  demand  for 
its  products;  it  leads  the  mind  to  make  a  more  careful 
examination  of  objects  of  study;   it  furnishes  the  besf 
method  of  describing  those  objects  that  have  form  and 
size;  it  has  a  refining  influence  by  cultivating  the  taste; 
and  it  improves  morals  by  exciting  a  love  for  the  beau- 
tiful."— John  W.  Dickinson. 


184  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  X. 

MISCELLANEOUS  MATTERS. 

I.   MUSIC. 

L  "  OF  all  the  fine  arts,"  says  Bain,  "  the  most  available 
and  influential  is  music.  This  is  perhaps  the  most  unex- 
ceptionable as  well  as  the  cheapest  of  human  pleasures." 

2.  Open  and  close  your  school  with  singing.     If  you 
cannot  sing  yourself,  make  up  a  small  singing  club,  and 
let  the  leader  conduct  the  exercises. 

3.  Train  your  pupils  carefully  in  respect  to  the  follow- 
ing points : 

I.  The  proper  position  in  singing. 

II.  The  right  management  of  the  breath. 

III.  Singing  with  open  mouth. 
IY.  Melody. 

II.   MANNERS. 

I.  Children  are  supposed  to  learn  manners  at  home,  or 
to  take  them  on   unconsciously  from  intercourse   with 
their  schoolmates;  but  it  is   exceedingly  desirable  that 
manners  should  be  made  the  subject  of  definite  instruction 
in  every  school.     It  is  said  that  the  winning  manners  of 
Henry  Clay  were  owing,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the  careful 
training  of  one  of  his  early  teachers. 

II.  "  A  beautiful  behavior  is  the  finest  of  the  fine  arts." 
— Emerson. 

III.  "  Give  a  boy  address  and  accomplishments,  and  you 


MISCELLANEOUS   MATTEES.  185 

give  him  the  mastery  of  palaces  and  fortunes  where  he 
goes." — Emerson. 

IY.  "A  noble  and  attractive  every-day  bearing  comes 
of  goodness,  or  sincerity,  of  refinement;  and  these  are 
bred  in  years,  not  moments.  The  principle  that  rules 
your  life  is  the  sure  posture-master." — Iluntington. 

Y.  "I  wish  good  behavior  might  enter  into  the  curric- 
ulum of  every  school  in  our  country.  Under  this  head 
should  be  taught  such  things  as  how  to  gracefully  enter 
a  room,  meet  with  the  person  upon  whom  the  pupil  is 
supposed  to  be  calling,  pass  the  compliments  of  the  day, 
and  peacefully  and  politely  leave  the  room ;  and  to  intro- 
duce parties  in  a  proper  manner ;  and  also  under  this  head 
you  may  teach  how  to  write  notes  of  invitation  and  ac- 
ceptance."— J.  H.  French,  Principal  of  the  State  Normal 
School,  Indiana,  Pennsylvania. 

RULES    OF    POLITENESS. 

Not& — Let  your  pupils  copy  the  following  rules  into 
their  blank-books.  Add  other  directions  as  circumstances 
may  require,  those  given  here  being  merely  a  suggestive 
model.  Make  each  direction  the  subject  of  a  conversa- 
tion with  your  pupils. 

1.  True  politeness  consists  in  having  and  showing  due  re- 
gard for  the  feelings,  comfort,  and  convenience  of  others. 

2.  Avoid  giggling  or  tittering  in  school  or  in  company. 

3.  Avoid  loud  talking  or  laughing  in  school  or  in  com- 
pany. 

4.  Avoid  the  use  of  slang. 

5.  Be  particularly  courteous  to  new  scholars. 

6.  Never  laugh  at  the  mistakes  or  blunders  of  other 
scholars  or  other  persons. 


186  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

7.  Look  persons  in  the  eye  when  they  speak  to  yon,  or 
when  you  speak  to  them. 

8.  Whispering  at  lectures,  places  of  amusement,  or  in 
public  is  both  rude  and  vulgar. 

9.  Be  respectful  to  your  elders  in  tone,  look,  and  man- 
ner. 

10.  Be  as  polite  to  your  father  and  mother,  and  your 
brothers  and  sisters,  as  you  are  to  strangers. 


PART  HI. 

WORKING  MODELS  IN  ESSENTIALS, 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 

IT  is  by  no  means  to  be  understood  that  the  following 
"working  models"  in  the  essential  school  studies  are  the 
only  methods  by  which  good  teachers  can  produce  good 
results.  The  competent  teacher  who  makes  use  of  them 
will,  of  course,  modify  them  to  suit  his  own  views,  and 
use  them  as  he  may  see  fit  to  supplement  the  text-books 
in  use  in  his  school.  It  is  hoped  that  they  will  be  directly 
useful  to  inexperienced  teachers  by  serving  as  model  les- 
sons until  they  themselves  form  the  habit  of  preparing 
and  arranging  at  least  a  part  of  their  work  independent 
of  the  school  text-book.  In  country  schools,  where  the 
teacher  is  allowed  a  wide  range  of  discretion  in  methods 
and  matter,  these  lessons  may  be  available  to  a  consid- 
erable extent.  All  of  the  following  exercises  are  the 
result  of  the  needs  of  a  large  city  grammar  and  primary 
school,  in  which,  on  account  of  unsuitable  text-books,  or 
a  lack  of  books  altogether,  such  lessons  seemed  essential 
in  order  to  secure  practical  work.  They  have  all  been 
tested  by  use  in  the  hands  of  a  large  number  of  assistants ; 
and,  while  few  teachers  will  find  time  to  use  them  all,  it 


188  INTKODTJCTOKY   NOTE. 

is  hoped  that  every  teacher  will  find  some  of  them  avail- 
able for  his  own  use.  "It  is  a  defect  pertaining  to  all 
models,"  says  Bain,  "  that  they  contain  individual  peculi- 
arities mixed  up  with  the  ideal  intention." 


WORKING  MODELS   FOR  BEADING-LESSONS.  189 


CHAPTER  I. 
WORKING  MODELS  FOR  READING-LESSONS. 

Note. — Suggestions  for  teaching  beginners  during  their 
first  year  at  school  will  be  found  in  Sheldon's  Manual  of 
Reading,  Calkins's  Manual,  or  in  any  modern  Primer, 
or  First  Reader.  The  following  exercises  are  general  in 
their  character,  and  are  only  suggestive  of  what  may  be 
done  by  any  thoughtful  teacher.  Whatever  method 
teachers  begin  with,  after  a  limited  number  of  words  or 
sentences  are  learned  by  sight,  children  must  learn  the 
letters  and  their  powers,  and  must  be  trained  in  forming, 
writing,  and  spelling  words. 

I.   LESSONS    IN    WORD-MAKING. 

1.  Write  or  print  on  the  blackboard  the  vowels  a,  e,  i, 
o,  u,  giving  their  name  sounds.     Then  to  each  of  these 
add  the  letter  t;  thus,  at,  et,  it,  ot,  ut.     Next,  form  such 
words  as  can  be  made  by  prefixing  a  letter ;  thus,  bat,  cat, 
fat,  hat,  mat,  etc.,  and  so  on  with  each  vowel. 

2.  Take  the  letter  &,  combine  it  with  each  of  the  vow- 
els, and  then  make  words  by  prefixing  letters,  thus,  cab, 
tub,  etc. 

3.  In  a  similar  way,  take  ad,  ag,  am,  an,  ap,  ar,  ed,  id,  od, 
etc. ;  ack,  eck,  ick,  oclc ;  ass,  ess,  iss,  uss  ;  all,  ell,  ill. 

4.  Continue  similar  construction  lessons,  as  a  relief  from 
book  or  chart  work. 


190  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


II.   LESSONS    FOR    PRIMARY    GRADES. 

[Second  and  third  school  years.] 

I.  Read  the  lesson  to  the  class. 

II.  Allow  five  minutes  for  pupils  to  study  it. 

III.  Explain  any  difficult  words. 

IV.  Require  pupils  to  read  singly. 

QUESTIONING. 

After  the  lesson  is  read,  question  the  pupils  about  every 
sentence,  making  use  of  the  following  interrogatives : 

Who?  What?  Why? 

Wlwse  ?  Where  ?  How  ? 

Whom?  When? 

MODEL. 

Sentence. — "The  merry  boys  skated  on  the  pond  in 
winter." 

[Note. — Require  the  answers  to  ~be  in  complete  sentences.} 

1.  WJio  skated  on  the  pond  in  winter?    Ans.  The  merry  boys,  etc. 

2.  What  kind  of  boys  skated,  etc.  ?    Ans.  The  merry  boys  skated, 
etc. 

3.  What  did  the  boys  do? 

4.  Where  did  the  boys  skate  ? 

5.  When  did  the  boys  skate  ? 

REPRODUCING    THE    LESSON. 

After  answering  such  questions  as  these,  applied  to 
every  sentence,  require  pupils  to  write  out  the  paragraph 
on  slates,  exchange  slates  with  each  other,  and  correct  by 
comparing  with  the  book. 


WORKING   MODELS   FOR   READING-LESSONS.  191 


III.   MISCELLANEOUS  EXERCISES. 

Apply  one  to  each  reading-lesson, 

1.  Copy  the  title  or  heading,  and  the  first  paragraph  or  stanza. 

2.  Write  the  names  of  the  things  you  can  see  in  this  picture. 

3.  Learn  the  first  stanza  by  heart. 

4.  How  many  periods  in  this  lesson  ?    How  many  question-marks  ? 

5.  Count  all  the  commas  in  this  lesson. 

G.  How  many  words  of  one  syllable  in  the  first  paragraph  ?  Of 
two  syllables  ? 

IV.   LESSONS    FOR   LOWER    GRAMMAR    GRADES. 

LESSON  I. — OCCUPATIONS. 

The  farmer  and  gardener  raise  grain,  vegetables,  and  fruit  for  our 
use.  The  farmer  also  supplies  the  market  with  milk,  butter,  cheese, 
cattle,  sheep,  wool,  horses,  poultry,  and  eggs.  The  miller  grinds 
wheat  and  corn,  and  the  baker  makes  bread.  The  butcher  kills 
live-stock  and  sends  to  market  beef,  mutton,  and  pork. 

Our  clothes  are  made  by  the  labor  of  many  hands.  Men,  women, 
and  children  in  China,  Italy,  and  France  are  kept  busy  in  rearing 
silk-worms  and  reeling  silk.  Thousands  of  men  are  hard  at  work 
in  our  own  country  raising  and  picking  cotton,  and  thousands  of 
farmers  and  sheep-raisers  are  shearing  the  wool  from  herds  of  sheep. 
Then  there  is  the  weaver,  who  makes  the  cloth ;  and  the  tailor  or 
dressmaker,  who  makes  it  into  clothing. 

The  tanner  makes  leather  for  us,  and  the  shoemaker  makes  our 
boots  and  shoes.  The  carpenter  and  mason  build  us  a  house,  the 
painter  paints  it,  and  the  cabinet-maker  makes  the  furniture.  The 
bookseller  supplies  us  with  books,  and  the  printers  sell  us  the  news- 
paper. The  tea  which  we  drink  at  supper  has  been  picked  by  busy 
hands  in  China.  The  coffee  that  we  use  at  breakfast  comes  from  the 
plantations  of  Brazil  or  Java,  and  the  sugar  with  which  we  sweeten 
it  was  made  from  the  sugar-cane  of  Louisiana.  It  is  wonderful  to 
think  how  many  trades  there  are,  and  how  many  busy  hands  are  at 
work  for  our  comfort  or  convenience. 


/92  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


QUESTIONS    ON    THE    PRECEDING    LESSON. 

PUNCTUATION  AND  CAPITALS. 

1.  Call  attention  to  the  use  of  the  comma  in  the  numerous  series 
of  nouns,  and  then  make  up  a  rule. 

2.  How  many  commas  in  the  whole  lesson  ? 

3.  Call  attention  to  the  proper  nouns  beginning  with  a  capital. 
How  many  are  there  in  all  ? 

4.  How  many  periods  in  this  lesson?     How  many  sentences? 
With  what  does  each  begin  and  end  ? 

PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

1.  Write  in  columns  all  the  nouns.     How  many  are  there  ? 

2.  How  many  nouns  are  plural  ?     How  many  are  singular  ? 

3.  Write  in  columns  all  the  verbs.     How  many  ? 

4.  How  many  times  is  the  article  the  used  in  this  lesson  ?    The 
article  a  or  an  ? 

5.  How  many  times  is  the  preposition  of  used  ?    The  preposition 
inf 

6.  How  many  times  is  the  conjunction  and  used? 

7.  How  many  times  is  the  relative  pronoun  who  used\      How 
rnuny  times  is  which  used  ? 

8.  How  many  full  sentences  in  this  piece  ?   How  many  paragraphs  \ 

9.  Reproduce  from  memory  the  first  paragraph ;  the  second. 

10.  Compare  with  the  original,  and  correct  the  punctuation. 

LESSON  II. — A  STORY. 

There  was  once  a  prince  who  wished  to  marry  a  princess.  He 
travelled  all  the  world  over  in  hopes  of  finding  one.  There  were 
plenty  of  princesses,  but  he  could  not  be  certain  that  they  were  real 
ones.  At  last  he  gave  up  the  search  and  went  home  quite  cast 
down. 

One  stormy  evening  there  was  a  knock,  and,  on  opening  the  door, 
a  princess  asked  for  shelter.  The  prince's  mother  went  into  the 
bedroom,  took  off  all  the  bedclothes  from  the  bed,  and  put  three 
little  peas  on  the  bedstead.  She  then  laid  twenty  mattresses  over 


WORKING   MODELS   FOR   READING-LESSONS.  193 

the  three  peas,  and  put  twenty  feather  beds  over  the  mattresses. 
Then  she  put  the  princess  to  bed  and  tucked  up  the  bt 

In  the  morning  the  queen  asked  her  how  she  had  slept.  "  Oh ! 
very  badly  indeed  1"  she  replied ;  "  I  hardly  closed  my  eyes  all  night. 
There  was  something  hard  in  my  bed,  and  I  am  black  and  blue  all 
over." 

It  was  now  plain  to  the  queen  that  this  was  a  real  princess,  be- 
cause she  was  so  delicate.  So  the  prince  married  her,  and  put  the 
three  peas  in  a  cabinet  of  curiosities,  where  they  are  still  to  be  seen, 
if  they  have  not  been  lost. — Adapted  from  Hans  Andersen. 

EXERCISES    ON    THE    PRECEDINO    STORY. 

SENTENCES. 

1.  How  many  sentences? 

2.  How  many  paragraphs? 

PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

1.  Make  a  list  of  the  proper  nouns. 

2.  Make  a  list  of  the  common  nouns. 

3.  Hpw  many  verbs  ? 

4.  How  many  times  is  the  verb  »a,  or  some  form  of  it,  used  ? 

5.  Make  a  list  of  the  transitive  verbs. 

6.  How  many  nouns  are  in  the  nominative  case  ?    In  the  objective 
case  ?    The  possessive  case  ? 

7.  Make  a  list  of  the  personal  pronouns.     How  many  ? 

8.  Make  a  list  of  the  adjectives. 

9.  Exchange  slates,  and  correct  under  the  direction  of  the  teacher. 

PUNCTUATION. 

1.  How  many  commas  are  used  in  this  lesson  ? 

2.  The  teacher  will  give  the  reason  for  the  use  of  each  comma,  ?f 
the  pupil  is  unable  to  do  so. 

3.  Reason  for  the  use  of  quotation-marks. 

ORAL  EXERCISE. 

Require  several  pupils  to  tell  the  story  in  their  own  language. 

9 


104:  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

Reproduce  the  story  from  memory,  exchange  slates,  and  correct 
error£jjfc  comparing  with  the  printed  copy. 

V.   LESSONS    FOR   HIGHER    GRAMMAR  GRADES. 

INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS. 

The  mariner's  compass  and  the  galvanic  battery  were  invented  in 
Italy. 

Germany  claims  the  honor  of  inventing  printing,  and  Holland  of 
inventing  the  microscope. 

France  has  contributed  to  the  world  photography,  the  Jacquard 
loom,  the  electro-magnet,  and  iron  armor  for  ships. 

Great  Britain  has  enriched  the  world  with  the  steam-engine,  the 
spinning-jenny,  weaving-machines,  the  chronometer,  the  rolling-mill, 
the  screw-propeller,  iron  ships,  and  the  steam-plough. 

The  United  States  has  contributed  the  steamboat,  the  cotton-gin, 
the  electric  telegraph,  the  sewing-machine,  vulcanized  rubber,  the 
steam  fire-engine,  revolving  fire-arms,  street -cars,  reaping-ma- 
chines, pin-machines,  cut-nail  machines,  and  a  great  number  of  minor 
but  very  useful  inventions. 

EXERCISES. 

GRAMMAR. 

1.  Make  a  list  of  the  proper  nouns  in  the  above  lesson. 

2.  Make  a  list  of  the  simple  subjects,  and  of  the  verbs. 

3.  How  many  simple  sentences  ? 

4.  How  many  complex  sentences  ? 

5.  How  many  compound  sentences  ? 

6.  Parse  each  word  in  the  first  sentence. 

7.  How  many  phrases  beginning  with  of? 

GliNERAL. 

[Questions  to  be  copied  by  a  class,  with  directions  to 
learn  the  answers.] 

1.  Tell  the  situation  of  each  country  named. 

2.  Who  invented  the  galvanic  battery  ? 
J.  Who  invented  photography  ? 

* 


WORKING   MODELS   FOR  READING-LESSONS.  195 

4.  Who  invented  or  improved  the  steam-engine?    When? 

5.  When  and  by  whom  was  the  cotton-gin  invented  ? 

6.  The  sewing-machine?     Steamboats?    The  electric  tSIJrapli? 
Vulcanized  rubber  ? 

COMPOSITION. 

Reproduce  from  memory,  exchange  and  correct;. 

PUNCTUATION. 
Give  the  reasons  for  the  use  of  each  comma. 


196  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  II. 
WORKING  MODELS  IN  ARITHMETIC. 

SECTION    I. LESSON   FOR    BEGINNERS  ;    AN    ADAPTATION    OF 

THE   GRUBE   SYSTEM. 



Grube's  method  consists  in  teaching  beginners  from 
four  to  six  years  of  age,  during  the  first  year,  all  possible 
combinations  and  comparisons  of  numbers  from  1  to  10. 
He  gives,  in  subetance,  the  following 

PRINCIPLES. 

1.  "Each  lesson  in  arithmetic  must  be  also  a  lesson  in  language. 
The  teacher  must  insist  on  readiness  and  correctness  of  expression. 
As  long  as  the  language  for  the  number  is  imperfect,  the  idea  of  the 
number  will  be  defective." 

2.  "  The  teacher  must  require  the  scholar  to  speak  as  much  as  pos- 
sible." 

3.  "  Answers  should  be  given,  sometimes  by  the  class  in  concert, 
and  sometimes  by  the  scholar  individually." 

4.  "  Every  process  must  be  illustrated  by  means  of  objects." 

5.  "  Measure  each  nev/  number  with  the  preceding  ones." 
C.  "  Teachers  must  insist  on  neatness  in  making  figures." 

ORDER  OF  STEPS. 

First  Step.  —  Illustrate  the  required  combinations  by  means  of 
counters  in  the  hands  of  the  children  themselves,  and  by  other  ob- 
jects in  the  hands  of  the  teacher.  Each  child  must  be  supplied 
with  ten  small  square  wooden  blocks,  like  the  blocks  of  a  checker- 
board. If  the  blocks  cannot  be  had,  use  shells,  corn,  pebbles,  pins, 
sticks,  buttons,  etc.  Make  use  of  a  numeral  frame,  if  there  is  one  in 
school. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC.  197 

Second  Step. — Express  the  same  combinations  on  the  blackboard  or 
on  slates,  both  with  marks  and  with  figures. 

Third  Step. — Take  the  same  combinations  mentally  with  abstract 
numbers. 

Fourth  Step. — Practical  problems  in  applied  numbers. 

HOW    TO    BEGIN. 

FIRST  TERM  OR  YEAR. 

The  time  required  for  this  work  will  depend  upon 
the  age  of  the  children,  as  also  upon  their  natural  ability. 
Children  from  four  to  five  years  of  age  may  require  a 
year  to  complete  it,  while  those  of  six  years  may  master 
it  in  from  three  to  five  months. 

I.   THE    NUMBER    ONE. 

1.  Hold  up  one  counter,  one  hand,  one  finger,  one  slate,  etc. 

On  your  slates  make  one  straight  mark,  one  dot,  one  cross, 

etc. 
On  the  blackboards  make  one  mark,  one  dot,  one  cross,  etc. 

2.  Place  one  counter  on  the  middle  of  your  desk ;  take  it  away ; 

how  many  have  you  left  ? 

Make  one  mark  on  your  slate ;  rub  it  out ;  how  many  marks 
are  left  ? 

3.  Send  the  class  to  the  blackboards  and  let  them  make  the  mark 

for  one — thus,  | — and  also  the  figure — thus,  1. 

II.   THE    NUMBER    TWO. 

1.  Each  of  you  take  one  counter  and  place  it  by  itself  on  your 
desk;  now  take  another  and  place  close  to  it;  how  many 
counters  have  you?  (Require  the  answer  in  a  full  sen- 
tence.) 

Make  one  straight  mark  on  your  slate ;  make  another  close  to 
it ;  how  many  have  you  now  ? 

Go  to  the  blackboards;  make  one  mark;  another  close  to  it; 
how  many  now  ? 


198  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 

Clap  your  hands  once;  again;  how  many  claps? 
Rap  on  your  desks  once  ;  again;  how  many  raps? 

2.  Counting. — Place  one  counter  on  your  desk;  a  little  way  oil 

from   the    first   one,   place    two   counters    close   together; 

thus,  *  * 

Count,  one,  two;  two,  one. 
On  your  slates  make  marks  —  thus,  |,  |  |,  and  count  forwards 

and  backwards. 

3.  Addition. — (a.}  Place  one  counter  on  the  desk ;  place  another 

counter  close  to  it ;  how  many  have  you  now  ?  Ans.  I  have 
two  counters.  How  many  counters  are  one  counter  and  one 
counter  ?  Ans.  One  counter  and  one  counter  are  two  count- 
ers. 

[The  teacher  will  further  illustrate  witli  books,  pencils,  crayons, 
etc.] 

(b.)  Slate  and  Blackboard. — Make  one  mark ;  another  one  near 
it.  How  many  marks  have  you  made  ? 

[Continue  with  rings,  dots,  crosses,  etc.] 

4.  Subtraction. — (a.)  Place  two  counters  together  on  your  desk; 

take  one  away ;  how  many  have  you  left  ?    Ans.  I  have  one 

left.     One  counter  from  two  counters  leaves  how  many? 

Ans.  One  counter  from  two  counters  leaves  one  counter. 
[Teacher  will  continue  with  fingers,  hands,  books,  and  other 

objects.] 
(&.)  Slate  and  Blackboard. — Make  two  marks ;  rub  out  one ;  how 

many  are  left  ?    Make  two  marks ;  rub  them  out ;  how  many 

are  left?    Ans.  None  are  left.    Two  taken  away  from  two 

leaves  how  many  ? 

5.  Multiplication.— (a.)  Each  of  you  put  one  counter  on  the  desk ; 

now  put  another  one  with  it;  how  many  times  have  you 
taken  one  counter  ?  Ans.  I  have  taken  one  counter  twice. 

Two  times  one  counter  are  how  many  counters  ?  Ans.  Twice 
one  counter  are  two  counters. 

(b.)  Slate  and  Blackboard. — Make  one  mark ;  now  another.  How 
many  times  have  you  made  one  mark?  Ans.  I  have  made 
one  mark  twice.  Then  two  times  one  mark  are  how  many 
marks  ?  Ans.  Two  times  one  mark  are  two  marks. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC.  199 

6.  Division. — Place  two  counters  on  the  desk.     Call  up  two  boys 

and  give  one  counter  to  each.  Question  thus :  How  many 
counters  has  John  ?  How  many  has  Frank  ?  If  two  boys  di- 
vide two  counters  between  them,  how  many  has  each  boy  ? 
Show  the  similarity  of  the  expressions  2  -i-  2  =  1,  and  £  of 
2  =  1. 

7.  Comparison. — Give  one  counter  to  John  and  two  to  Frank. 

How  many  counters  has  John?  Frank?  How  many  has 
Frank  more  than  John  ?  How  many  more  is  two  than  one  ? 
How  many  counters  has  John  less  than  Frank?  Then  one 
is  one  less  than  two.  BlacJtboard. — Illustrate  the  same  with 
marks. 

8.  Applied  Numbers. — (#.)  Addition. 

1.  John  ate  one  apple  at  recess,  and  another  apple  at  noon ; 
how  many  apples  did  he  eat  ? 

2.  Frank  had  one  dime,  and  his  father  gave  him  one  more ; 
how  many  dimes  did  he  have  ? 

3.  The  teacher  will  make  up  ten  similar  questions. 

(5.)  Multiplication. — 1.  John  went  a-fishing,  and  twice  he  caught 

one  fish ;  how  many  fishes  did  he  catch  ? 
The  teacher  will  make  up  ten  similar  questions, 
(c.)  Division.— I.  If  two  boys  divide  two  marbles  between  them, 

how  many  will  each  have  ? 
Dictate  ten  similar  questions. 

9.  Figures  and  Signs.  —  Teach  the  use  of  the  five  signs  -{-,  — , 

X,  -T-,  =.  Tell  them  that  -f  means  "and"  or  "added  to," 
and  that  it  is  read  "plus;"  that  —  means  "taking  away" 
or  "less,"  and  that  it  is  read  "minus;"  that  X  means 
"times,"  and  is  read  "multiplied  ly  ;"  that  -r-  means  "con- 
tains," and  that  it  is  read  "divided  ly ;"  that  =  means  equal 
to,  equals. 

-f  is  called  the  sign  of  addition. 

"  "         subtraction. 

X          "  multiplication. 

-f.         "  "         division. 

=         "  "         equality. 


200 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


ILLUSTRATIONS    OF   THE    USE    OF    SIGNS. 

Let  the  children  make  each  combination  first  with  the 
counters. 

a.  By  Marks.  I.  By  Figures. 

=  \\ 

1X2=2 


2-f-2 

lof2 


ll-l    = 


10.  Table  to  le  Taught. 
2  pints  make  1  quart. 
1  quart  equals  2  pints. 


III.  THE    NUMBER   THREE. 

1.  Measuring. 
First  illustrate  by  using  counters. 

By  One. 
1+1+1=3 
3—1—1—1=0 
3—1—1=1 
3  —  2  =  1 
1X3  =  3 
3X  1=3 
3-7-1  =  3 


By  Tw9. 

2  +  1  =  3 
1  +  2  =  3 
1x2+1=3 

3  —  2  =  1 

3-f-2  =  l  and  1  remainder,  or 
£  of  3  =  1  and  £ 


2.  Second  Form  of  Expressing. 


Add. 

Suit. 

Suit. 

Mult. 

Biv. 

Div. 

1 
1 

3 
-1 

3 
—  2 

1 
X3 

1)3 
3 

2)3 

1 

—  1 

1 

"6 

IT 

~T 

WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC. 


201 


Note.— Read  3  -r- 1,  at  first,  thus :  "  1  is  contained  in  3  three  times ;" 
1X3  thus :  "  3  times  1  equals  three."  The  idea  of  "  to  be  con« 
tained"  must  precede  tlie  higher  and  more  difficult  conception  of 
"  dividing." 

3.  Practice. 

1.  How  many  are  3  —  1  —  1  +  2  divided  by  1  ? 

2.  1+1+1-2+1+1—  2  +  1  +  1  =  how  many  ? 

4.  Applied  Numbers. 
The  teacher  will  make  up  ten  questions. 


IV.   THE    NUMBER   FOUR. 


1.  Measuring. 

First  illustrate  by  using  counters. 
By  One. 


4—1—1—1—1=0 

4—1—1—1=1 

1  X4  =  4 

4X1  =  4 

4-f-l=4 


By  Two. 
2  +  2  =  4 
4  —  2  =  2 
2X2  =  4 
4-f-2  =  2,  or 


By  Three. 


3  +  1=4 
1  +  3  =  4 
1x3+1=4 
3x1+1=4 


4  —  3  =  1 
4  —  1  =  3 

4-7-3  =  1  and  1  r.,  or 
Jof4=lJ 


2.  Second  Form  of  Writing. 


Add. 

Add. 

Suit. 

Suit. 

Mult. 

Mult. 

Div. 

2 
+  2 

3 

+  1 

4 
—  2 

4 
—  3 

2 

X2 

1 
X4 

*)JL 

2 

4 

4 

~2 

1 

4 

4 

9* 

202  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

3.  Practice. 

1.  2X2  —  3+2X1+1—  2  X  2  =  how  many? 
The  teacher  will  give  ten  similar  questions. 

4.  Combinations. 

1.  What  number  must  we  double  to  get  4  ? 

2.  2  is  one  half  of  what  number  ? 

3.  1  is  the  fourth  part  of  what  number  ? 

Give  similar  questions. 

5.  Practical  Illustrations. 

1.  Name  4  animals  that  have  only  2  legs. 

2.  Name  4  animals  that  have  4  legs  each. 

3.  Name  a  thing  that  has  4  legs. 

4.  Name  a  thing  that  has  3  legs. 

6.  Table  to  be  learned. 

4  gills  make  1  pint. 
2  pints  make  1  quart. 
4  quarts  make  1  gallon. 

Pass  around  the  class  a  pint  measure  and  a  quart  meas- 
ure, and  then  make  up  numberless  practical  examples. 

V.   THE    NUMBER   FIVE. 

First,  combinations  with  counters. 
1.  Measuring. 


By  One. 

By 

Two. 

1 

+  1  +  1 

+  1 

+ 

1 

=  5 

2  +  2  + 

1 

=  5 

1 

—  1  —  1 

—  1 

— 

1 

=  0 

5 

— 

2  — 

2 

=  1 

5 

—  1  —  1 

—  1 

— 

1 

—  1 

2 

X 

2  + 

1 

=  5 

1 

X 

5 

=  5 

5 

4- 

2  = 

2 

and 

lr. 

5 

X 

1 

=  5 

i 

of 

5  = 

2 

i 

5-f-l  =  5 

WORKING   MODELS   IN  AEITHMETIC. 


203 


By  Three. 


5  —  2  =  3 
5  —  3  =  2 

1X3+2=5 
5-r-3  =  l,2r. 


By  Four. 

4  +  1  =  5 
1  +  4  =  5 

5  —  4  =  1 
5  —  1  =  4 
1x4+1=5 
5-f-4  =  l,lr. 


2.  Practice. 

1.5  —  2  —  3  +  2x2  =  how  many  ? 
2.  2X2+1  —  3x14-2-7-4  =  ? 


3.  Applied  Numbers. 
The  teacher  will  make  up  at  least  ten  simple  questions. 


VI.   THE    NUMBER    SIX. 

1.  Illustration. 

(«.)  Place  six  counters  in  a  row,  count  forwards  and  backwards. 

(&.)  Make  six  marks  on  slates — thus,  |  |  j  |  |  |.  Count  forwards 
and  backwards. 

(c.)  Make  figures— thus,  1, 2,  3, 4, 5, 6.  Count  forwards  and  back- 
wards. 

2.  Addition. 

Illustrate  the  following  combinations  first  with  count- 
ers, next  with  marks : 

1  +  5 


1+1 

1  +  2 

1  +  3 

1  +  4 

2  +  1 

2  +  2 

2  +  3 

2  +  4 

3  +  1 

3  +  2 

3  +  3 

4  +  1 

4  +  2 

5  +  1 

204 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


3.  Subtraction. 
Illustrate  as  in  addition. 


1  —  1 

2  —  2 

3  —  3 

4  —  4 

2  —  1 

3  —  2 

4  —  3 

5  —  4 

3  —  1 

4  —  2 

5  —  3 

6  —  4 

4—1 

5  —  2 

6  —  3 

5  —  1 

C  —  2 

C  —  1 

6  —  6 


4.  Analysis. 

6  =  l  +  l-f-l+l-fl  +  l  6  =  3  +  2  +  1 

6  —  2  +  1  +  14-1  +  1  6  =  3  +  3 

6=2+2+1+1  6=4+1+1 

6=2+2+2  6=4+2 

6=3+1+1+1  6=5+1 

"Write  the  preceding  in  the  second  form. 
5.  Multiplication. 


ixi  =  ? 

2X1  =  ? 

3  X  1  =  ? 

1X4  —  ? 

1X2  =  ? 

2X2  =  ? 

3X2  =  ? 

1X5  =  ? 

IX  3  =  ? 

2X  3  =  ? 

1X6  =  ? 

1  X4  =  ? 

1X5  =  ? 

1X6  =  ? 

Write  the  preceding  in  the  second  form. 


6.  Division. 

2-J-2 

3-4-3 

4-4-4 

3-4-2 

4  —i—  3 

5-4-4 

4-f-2 

5-7-3 

6-4-4 

5-j-2 

6-4-3 

6-i-2 

5-7-5 


6-7-6 


WORKING   MODELS    IN   ARITHMETIC. 


205 


7.  Exercise  with  Counters. 

1.  Place  two  counters  together;  two  more ;  two  more;  how  many 
counters  ? 

2.  How  many  times  two  counters  ? 

3.  How  many  times  are  two  counters  contained  in  six  counters  ? 

4.  Place  three  counters  together;  three  more;  how  many? 

5.  How  many  times  three  counters  ? 

6.  Etc. 

8.  Division. — Another  Form. 


of  6  =  3 


Write  thus : 


J  of  4  =  1,  Ir. 
£  of  5  =  1,  2  r. 
A  of  6  =  2 


9.  Division.  —  Regular  Form. 


i  of  4  =  1 
}  of  6  =  If 


eta 


H  3 

10.  Comparison. 


6  is  1  more  than  5 
6  is  2  more  than  4 
6  is  3  more  than  3 
6  is  4  more  than  2 
6  is  5  more  than  1 


1  is  5  less  than  6 

2  is  4  less  than  6 

3  is  3  less  than  6 

4  is  2  less  than  6 

5  is  1  less  than  6 


All  these  examples  are  to  be  given  promiscuously  as 
well  as  in  regular  order. 

[Proceed  in  a  similar  manner  with  the  numbers  seven, 
eight,  and  nine.] 


VII.   THE    NUMBER    TEN. 

1.  Illustration. 

(a.)  Place  ten  counters  on  the  desk. 
(&.)  Make  ten  marks  on  the  slate  or  board. 


206 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


(c.)  Make  the  figures  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10. 
(d.)  Count  forwards  and  backwards. 

2.  Measurement. 
Measuring  by  counters. 

1.  How  many  twos  in  ten  ? 

2.  How  many  threes  in  ten  ? 

3.  How  many  fours,  Jives,  sixes,  etc.  ? 

3.  Combinations. 

Let  pupils  make  all  the  combinations  they  can  that 
shall  equal  ten  —  thus  : 


3  +  3  +  3+1=10 
5  +  5  =  10 
4  +  4  +  2  =  10,  etc. 

4.  Second  Form  of  Expressing. 

Put  the  same  into  the  regular  form  of  addition  —  thus: 
3 

Correct  Way.  —  One,  four,  seven,  ten. 
Incorrect  Way.  —  One  and  three  are  four,  and  three  are 
seven,  and  three  are  ten. 


10 


5.  Multiplication. 


ix  1  =  1 

2X1=2 

3X  1  =  3 

4X1=4 

1  X  2  =  2 

2x2=4 

3X  2  =  6 

4X2  =  8 

1  X  3  =  3 

2X3=6 

3  X  3  =  9 

1  X  4  =  4 

2X4=8 

1X5  =  5 

2  X  5  =  10 

etc.  to  10 

6.  Division. 


2-4-2  =  ? 

3- 

-3  =  ? 

4  - 

-4  =  ? 

5- 

-5  =  ? 

3-7-2  =  ? 

4- 

3n 
=    { 

5  - 

-4  =  ? 

6- 

-5  =  ? 

4-7-2  =  ? 

5- 

30 
=3  { 

- 

-4  =  ? 

7- 

-5  =  ? 

etc.  to  10 

etc.  to  10 

etc.  to  10 

etc.  to  10 

WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC. 


207 


7.  Another  Form  of  Division. 


etc.  to  10 


etc.  to  10 


8.  Another  Form  of  Division. 
2)JL  211  2)5 


etc.  to  10 


etc.  to  10 


In  the  same  way  divide  by  three,  four,  and  five. 


9.  Comparison. 


10  is  1  more  than  9 
10  is  2  more  than  8 
10  is  3  more  than  7 
10  is  4  more  than  6 
10  is  5  more  than  5 
etc.  to  10 


1  is  9  less  than  10 

2  is  8  less  than  10 

3  is  7  less  than  10 

4  is  6  less  than  10 

5  is  5  less  than  10 

etc.  to  10 


All  these  comparisons  are  to  be  given  promiscuously  as 
well  as  in  regular  order. 

10.  Concrete  Examples. 

Teachers  will  make  up  from  ten  to  twenty  concrete  ex- 
amples. ______ 

SECTION   II. — SECOND   TEEM   OR  YEAR. 
I.   NUMBERS  FROM  TEN  TO   TWENTY. 

1.  Illustration  with  the  number  nineteen. 

1.  Place  the  counters  on  the  desk. 

2.  Make  marks  on  the  slate  or  board. 

3.  Make  the  figures  from  one  to  nineteen. 

4.  Count  forwards  and  backwards. 


208  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

2.  Measuring  by  counters. 

1.  How  many  twos  in  nineteen? 

2.  How  many  threes,  etc.,  to  nines  f 

3.  Addition  Table. 

1  +  2  +  2,  etc.,  to  19.  5  +  5  +  5  +  4  =  19       9+9  +  1  =  19 

2  +  2  +  2,  etc.,  +  1  to  1 9  6  +  6  +  6  +  1  =  19 
3  + 3  + 3,  etc.,  to  19  7  +  7  +  5  =  19 

4  +  4  +  4  +  4  +  3  =  19  8  +  8  +  3  =  19 

Put  the  preceding  also  into  vertical  columns. 

4.  Let  scholars  make  as  many  combinations  as  possible  equal  to 
nineteen. 

5.  'Subtraction. — Reverse  the  tables  for  addition. 


6.  Multiplication. 


1X2 

1  X  3  to  19 


1X2 
2  X  2  to  9 


1X3 
2  X  3  to  6 


1X4 
2  X  4  to  4 


1X5 

2  X  5  to  3 


7.  Division. 

19  -i- 1?  19  _:_  2?  19  _:_  3?  Up  to  19. 

8.  Miscellaneous  Exercises. 

8  +  4  =  12       3  +  3  +  3  —  8  =  1  2x3x3  =  18 

7_|_5_j-G  =  18  12-v-6  =  2  4x3x1  =  12 

19  —  4  =  15  17H-4=4, 1  r.  16  —  8  =  2 

19  —  9  =  10  16—12  =  4  18-r-9  =  2 

3X6  =  18  2X2X2  =  8  18-f-5  =  3,3r. 

16^-4  =  4  17  —  9  +  9  =  17  19-f-4=4,3r. 

5  +  9  —  7  =  7  9  +  9  —  11=7 


Table  to  le  Learned. 


12  inches  =  1  foot. 
3  feet  =  1  yard. 


16  ounces  =  1  pound. 


The  inch,  foot,  and  yard  to  be  drawn  repeatedly 
on  the  board  by  pupils.  An  ounce  weight  and  a  pound 
weight  must  be  passed  around  in  the  class. 


WORKING   MODELS    IN   ARITHMETIC.  209 

II.   FRACTIONS. 

Directions. — Illustrate  halves,  thirds,  etc.,  by  breaking 
up  crayons,  cutting  up  apples,  or  by  breaking  slips  of 
wood.  Having  shown  your  pupils  how  one  half  is  made 
and  how  one  half  is  written,  send  them  to  the  blackboards, 
saying  nothing  whatever  about  numerator  or  denominator, 
and  drill  them  on  numberless  examples  like  the  following : 

1.  One  Half. 


2.  Mixed  Numbers. 

21  C    =58  11  4 

_31_  -  31  =  31  jl  -11  etc. 

~6~  21  =  21  4  21 

?. — Give  a  great  many  drill  examples  like  the  pre- 
ceding, and  keep  your  little  scholars  busy  on  such  simple 
questions  until  they  become  expert  in  their  work.  Do 
not  be  in  a  hurry  to  proceed  immediately,  after  the  man- 
ner of  text -books,  to  crowd  a  dozen  new  things  upon 

them. 

3.  Combinations. 

1+1=|=1  i+t=f  t+i=|=l 

8-l  =  l,or  *-*  =  *  |-i=i,or 

•j  _j_. i  i  y  JL  —  1  JL 1 1 

iv4  —  i  A-i-A  —  1  ivi i 

2^8  T  «•?  •  "4^4"  1(J 

4.  Addition. 


20. — Send  the  class  to  the  boards  and  give  twenty 
similar  examples. 


210 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


Ji 

12 


2J 
*J 

Ji 
"J 


5.  Addition. 

14             Gi  5£ 

5i             4  3£ 

Ji       Ji  Ji 

12              17|  14| 


. — Give  at  least  one  hundred  similar  drill  examples, 
in  ten  successive  lessons. 


C.  Multiplication. 


etc. 


etc. 


*xi=i 


etc. 


Second  Foi'm. — Mixed  Numbers. 


3 
16 


34 
3 


7.  Division  and  Multiplication. 
Division.  Multiplication. 


etc.,  to  tenths. 


etc.,  to  tenths. 


8.  Decimal  Fractions.     [Tent?is.] 

Directions. — Send  your  pupils  to  the  blackboards,  and 
let  them  write  and  read  examples  like  the  following,  with- 
out going  into  any  philosophical  explanation  whatever. 
At  this  stage,  the  point  is  to  do  something. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC.  211 

Addition.  Subtraction. 

(2.)  .4  — .2  =  .2 


(3.)  .3  +  .3  =  .6 
(5.)  .4 +  .3  =  .7 


(4.)  .6  —  .3  =  .3 
(6.)  .7  —  .4  =  .3 


9.  Addition. 

.5 

1.2 

1.3 

2.2 

.6 

1.3 

1.4 

3.3 

.4 

1.5 

1.5 

4.4 

Give  at  least  ten  lessons,  each  containing  from  ten  to 
twenty  similar  examples. 

Second  Form. 

(1.)  (2.)  (3.)  (4.)  (5.)  (C.) 

.2  .3  .4  .4  .6  .7 

.2  .3  .3  —.2  —.3  —.4 

~A~        "IT        ~7T           ~^2  ~73  ~U 

.2 
.3 

.2 

.7  L5  4X  42  9 

Send  the  class  to  the  boards  and  give  similar  examples. 

10.  Multiplication. 

.2  X  1  =  .2  .2  X  4  =   .8  .2  X  7  =  1.4 

.2X2  =  .4  .2X5  =  1.0  .2X8  =  1.6 

.2  X  3  =  .6  .2  X  6  =  1.2  .2x9  =  1.8 

In  the  same  way  take  .3,  .4,  .5. 

11.  Addition  of  Common  and  Decimal  Fractions. 

(1.)  (2.)  (3.) 

\  -    .5  21  =    2.5  1 J  =  1.5 

£=    .5  31=    3.5  If  =1.5 

JL-_^  Ji=jy.  Ji=i5. 

11  =  1.5  10-1  =  10.5  4£  =  4.5 

12.  Table. 
10  cents  1  dime. 
10  dimes  1  dollar. 

Pass  a  dollar,  a  dime,  and  a  cent  around  the  class,  arid 
give  easy  practical  questions.  Make  the  sign  of  dollars, 
and  give  simple  questions  in  adding  dollars. 


212 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


13.  Decimals. 


Multiplication. 
1.  .2  X  4  =   .8 
3.  .3  X  3  =    .9 
5.  .4X4  =  1.0 
7.  .7  X  2  =  1.4,  etc. 


Division. 
.8  —  4  =  .2 
.9  —  3  =  .3 


6.  1.0  — 4  =  .4 
8.  1.4  — 2  =  .7 


14.  Multiplication. 

.3  .4  .7  .7  .6 

34232 
.9  1.0  1.4  2.1  1.2 


The  teacher  will  give  five  lessons  of  five  examples  each, 
similar  to  the  above. 


SECTION   III. THIRD   TEAK   OK   TEEM. 

Adding  "by  tens,  twenties,  thirties,  forties,  etc. 
Models. 


(1.) 

10 

(2.) 
20 

(3.) 
30 

(40 
40 

(5.) 
50 

(6.) 
90 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

90 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

90 

30 

60 

90 

120 

150 

270" 

Divide  each  amount  in  the  preceding  examples  by  3 — thus: 
3)30  3)150 

10  50  etC' 

The  teacher  will  give  five  similar  lessons  of  ten  exam- 
ples each. 


2.  Multiplying  and  dividing  tens,  twenties,  thirties,  forties,  etc., 
two,  three,  etc.,  to  ten. 

Model  of  Blackboard  Work. 


one, 


Mult.                    Div.                     Mult.                      Div. 

10  X  2  =  20 

20  -f-  2  =  10 

50  X  2  =  100 

100  -r-  2  =  50 

10  X  3  =  30 

30  -7-  3  =  10 

50  X  3  =  150 

150  -f-  3  =  50 

10  X  4  —  40 

40-r-4rrlO 

50  X  4  =  200 

200  -r-  4  =  50 

etc. 

etc. 

etc. 

etc. 

WORKING    MODELS    IN    ARITHMETIC. 


213 


3.  Decimals. — Dollars  and  Cents. 

Dictate  hundreds   of   simple   examples   like   the   fol- 
lowing : 


(1.) 

(2.)       (3.) 

(4.) 

(5.) 

$10 

$25      $1.25 

$4.40 

$0.10 

$12 

$25      $2.25 

$4.50 

$0.25 

$13 

$50      $3.25 

$4.60 

$0.50 

(10 

(2.) 

(3.) 

(4.) 

$i  =   .50 

$i  =  .25    $ 

-^  =  .10 

$|  =  .75 

$*  =   .50 

$i  =  .25    $ 

1\F  =  .10 

$1=   .75 

$1  =   .50 

$}  =  .25    $ 

TTT^  -10 

$f  =  .75 

>1*  =  $1.50 

$}  =  .75    $ 

A  =  .3.0 

$2-1  =  $2.25 

4. 

Multiplied  tion. 
1.  $1.25    X  3rr? 
3.  $2.75    X  4  =  ? 
5.  $1.12*  X  2  =  ? 

7.  $2.37^  X  4  =  ? 
9.  $1.05    X  3  =  ? 


Blackboard  Drill. 

Division. 

2.  $  3.75  —  3  =  ? 
4.  $11.00  —  4  =  ? 
6.  $  2.25  —  2  =  ? 
8.  $  9.50  —  4  =  ? 
10.  $  3.15  —  3  =  ? 


The  teacher  will  dictate  five  similar  lessons  of  ten  ex- 
amples each.  . 

5.  Table  of  Federal  Money  to  be  Learned. 


SECTION    IV. DRILL    EXERCISES    IN    THE   FOUR   RULES. 

I.    ADDITION. 

Direction.  —  Put  this  table  on  the  blackboard;  with  a 
pointer,  point  out  successively  different  numbers  to  be 
combined  with  the  number  at  the  head  of  the  column. 
As,  pointing  to  11,  the  combination  will  be  5  +  11  =  16, 
etc.  Let  the  class  answer  in  concert  and  singly. 


214 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


Add  the  first  column  under  "  5  "  downwards  and  up- 
wards, until  the  scholar  has  thoroughly  mastered  it.  Do 
not  allow  pupils  to  repeat  five  and  ten  are  fifteen,  five 
and  six  are  eleven,  five  and  eleven  are  sixteen,  etc.,  but 
require  them  to  point  on  the  blackboard  to  each  figure 
in  the  column,  and  give  only  results ;  downwards  thus : 
15,  11, 16, 10,  9,  6,  8, 12, 17,  14,  7,  13;  upwards,  13,  7, 14, 
17, 12,  8,  6,  9, 10, 16, 11, 15. 

Add  the  other  columns  in  the  same  manner. 


5 

2 

8 

4 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

10 

12 

7 

5 

4 

12 

3 

9 

11 

6 

3 

9 

3 

9 

9 

2 

6 

4 

11 

6 

4 

6 

6 

11 

7 

12 

C 

5 

4 

8 

10 

10 

5 

8 

7 

10 

4 

9 

6 

4 

12 

10 

12 

11 

5 

1 

7 

12 

1 

7 

4 

10 

4 

3 

3 

2 

3 

11 

11 

6 

9 

10 

7 

7 

11 

5 

9 

3 

3 

11 

3 

12 

12 

5 

10 

12 

8 

2 

C 

1 

9 

9 

1 

1 

7 

5 

7 

5 

5 

2 

2 

8 

11 

2 

2 

1 

4 

8 

8 

8 

10 

2 

8 

1 

8 

1 

2 

1 

II.    SUBTRACTION. 


C 

2 

8 

4 

8 

5 

10 

7 

9 

15 

12 

9 

13 

14 

11 

10 

17 

12 

10 

9 

11 

10 

18 

15 

15 

13 

9 

9 

7 

5 

14 

12 

13 

20 

8 

19 

1C 

11 

12 

12 

16 

9 

14 

7 

17 

14 

8 

10 

4 

13 

5 

1G 

10 

14 

12 

6 

8 

G 

11 

8 

11 

14 

18 

s 

10 

G 

9 

9 

G 

17 

11 

15 

11 

5 

4 

5 

15 

10 

13 

16 

10 

C, 

3 

7 

8 

8 

7 

12 

12 

13 

18 

2 

3 

7 

10 

12 

19 

9 

11 

WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC. 


215 


III.    MULTIPLICATION. 


4 

3 

6 

» 

2 

5 

7 

8 

10 

11 

12 

9 

3 

6 

11 

8 

10 

8 

3 

10 

12 

12 

12 

4 

12 

10 

11 

12 

12 

6 

8 

1 

G 

10 

8 

7 

1 

10 

1 

10 

12 

12 

11 

1 

2 

12 

11 

4 

6 

4 

9 

9 

6 

4 

2 

11 

10 

9 

12 

5 

8 

4 

5 

1 

8 

4 

8 

5 

4 

2 

4 

9 

1 

4 

2 

C 

8 

7 

G 

10 

6 

1 

3 

3 

1 

4 

4 

3 

4 

11 

8 

8 

3 

7 

C 

8 

3 

5 

11 

6 

9 

3 

5 

9 

5 

5 

7 

9 

7 

7 

3 

7 

1 

7 

2 

2 

11 

10 

5 

10 

10 

5 

2 

5 

9 

7 

6 

2 

2 

11 

2 

5 

1 

1 

2 

3 

12 

11 

7 

11 

2 

4 

9 

IV.   DIVISION. 

Under  the  head  of  "  7,"  giving  only  results ;  down- 
wards thus :  5,  8, 12,  6, 1, 2,  7,  10,  3,  4,  9, 11 ;  upwards,  11, 
9,4,3,10,7,2,1,6,12,8,5. 


7 

2 

3 

4 

5 

8 

6 

12 

9 

11 

10 

35 

10 

33 

44 

50 

72 

48 

36 

36 

11 

90 

56 

16 

27 

16 

35 

96 

18 

60 

18 

132 

60 

84 

24 

12 

24 

45 

56 

60 

108 

54 

33 

70 

42 

12 

15 

8 

60 

40 

12 

84 

90 

22 

50 

7 

2 

30 

4 

40 

88 

36 

132 

72 

121 

80 

14 

4 

21 

20 

25 

8 

24 

144 

108 

110 

40 

49 

14 

G 

32 

5 

32 

6 

96 

99 

44 

100 

70 

20 

3 

48 

10 

48 

66 

120 

9 

88 

30 

21 

6 

18 

36 

15 

16 

30 

72 

63 

55 

110 

28 

8 

36 

28 

30 

80 

42 

24 

81 

77 

20 

63 

18 

24 

40 

20 

24 

72 

48 

45 

66 

120 

77 

22 

15 

12 

55 

64 

54 

12 

27 

99 

10 

SECTION   V. WORKING   MODELS    IN    COMMON   FRACTIONS. 

I.   MULTIPLYING  AND   DIVIDING  A  FRACTION  BY  A  WHOLE   NUMBER. 

Note. — There  will  be  no  difficulty  in  lessons  like  the 
following,  if  the  teacher  will  let  technical  terms  alone, 


216  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

take  only  one  thing  at  a  time,  and  drill  upon  it  imtil  it  is 
fixed  in  the  mind  by  practice.  The  first  steps  must  be 
illustrated  by  broken  crayons  or  sticks. 

Oral  Lesson. 

1.  How  many  fourths  are  2  times  J?  " 
Ans.  Two  times  ^  are  f ,  and  £  =  ^. 

2.  What  is  i  off?    Ans.  £. 

3.  What  is  i  of  £?    Ans.  I. 
'  4.  Multiply  I  by  3. 

5.  Divide  f  by  3. 

Multiply.  Divide. 


1.  |  by  5 
3.  f  by  3 
5.  &  by  3 
7.  A  by  5 
9.  &  by  2 


2.  §  by  5 
4.  |  by  3 
6.  ft  by  3 
8.  H  by  5 
10.  «fo  by  3 


II.   MULTIPLYING    BY    A    FRACTION. 

1.  Oral  Questions. 

1.  What  is  one  half  of  4? 

2.  What  is  the  product  of  4  multiplied  by  -J-  ? 

3.  What  is  one  half  of  12  ? 

4.  12  multiplied  by  fc  =  ? 

5.  What  is  i  of  5  ? 

6.  Multiply  5  by  £. 

EXERCISES. 

1.  i^ind  one  half  of  each  of  the  even  numbers  from  2  to  20. 

2.  Multiply  each  of  the  even  numbers  from  2  to  20  by  £. 

3.  Find  one  half  of  each  of  the  odd  numbers  from  1  to  19. 

4.  Multiply  by  J  each  of  the  odd  numbers  from  1  to  ID. 

5.  Find  one  half  of  20,  40,  CO,  80, 100. 

6.  Multiply  by  $  each  of  the  following :  20,  40,  CO,  80,  IOC1. 


WORKING   MODELS    IN   ARITHMETIC.  217 


2.  Slate  and  BlacJ&oard  Drill. 

1.  The  question  "  What  is  one  half  of  4 "  is  expressed  thus  in 
written  arithmetic :  Multiply  4  by  £-. 
Slate  Work—  4  X  |  =  ?    4-5-2  =  2.    Ans. 
Rule. — Divide  the  number  by  2. 

In  a  similar  manner  perform  each  of  the  following : 

1.  Multiply  each  of  the  even  numbers  from  2  to  100  by  \. 

2.  Multiply  each  of  the  odd  numbers  from  3  to  99  by  |. 

III.    MULTIPLYING    BY    A    FRACTION. 

1.  Oral  Questions. 

1.  What  is  i  of  8? 

2.  Multiply  8  by  J. 

3.  What  is  the  product  of  8  multiplied  by  i  ? 

4.  How  do  you  multiply  8  by  £  ? 
Ans.  By  dividing  8  by  4. 

5.  Find  i  of  12, 16,  20, 24,  28,  32, 36, 40. 44, 48. 

6.  Multiply  each  of  the  preceding  numbers  by  £. 

7.  Find  i  of  40,  80, 120, 160. 

8.  Find  i  of  9, 13, 17,  21,  25,  29,  33,  37,  41, 45, 49. 

2.  Slate  and  Blackboard  Drill. 

Form  of  Slate  Work. 
1.  Multiply  8  by  J. 

8Xi  =  ? 

8-5-4  =  2. 
Rule. — Divide  the  number  by  4. 

EXERCISES. 

1.  Put  each  of  the  oral  questions  in  the  preceding  lesson  into 
slate  wort? . 

2.  Multiply  each  of  the  even  numbers  from  4  to  100  by  £. 
b.  Multiply  each  of  the  odd  numbers  from  5  to  99  by  £. 

4.  Multiply  every  number  that  ends  with  a  cipher  from  10  to  100 

by*. 

5.  Multiply  every  number  ending  in  5  from  15  to  105  by  J. 

10 


218  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 


IV.   DIVIDING    BY    A    FRACTION. 

1.  Oral 

1.  How  many  times  is  £  contained  in  2  ? 

2.  How  can  you  show  it  ? 

Am.  By  taking  2  crayons  and  breaking  them  into  halves. 
Do  it. 

3.  How  many  times  is  £  contained  in  4  ? 

Show  it  by  drawing  on  the  blackboard  a  line  four  inches  long, 
and  then  dividing  into  half-inches. 

4.  Divide  2  by  -J. 

5.  Divide  4  by  £. 

6.  What  is  the  quotient  of  2  divided  by  £. 

7.  Find  the  quotient  of  4  divided  by  £. 

8.  2-i-i  =  ?    4-r-l  — ? 

EXERCISES. 

Rule. — Multiply  the  number  by  2. 

1.  Divide  each  of  the  even  numbers  from  2  to  100  by  £. 

2.  Divide  each  of  the  odd  numbers  from  3  to  100  by  £. 

3.  Divide  by  £  each  of  the  numbers  ending  in  a  cipher  from  10 
to  100. 

4.  Divide  by  •£  each  number  from  15  to  105  ending  in  5. 

2.  Slate  and  Blackboard  Drill. 

Questions  like  the  preceding  are  put  into  the  form  of 
written  arithmetic  according  to  the  following 

Model 
1.  What  is  5  times  £  ? 

*X5=f.  1  -0-f-5=J. 

Require  the  class  to  put  each  of  the  preceding  ques- 
tions into  the  form  of  written  arithmetic,  and  then  dictate 
ten  examples,  using  larger  numbers. 


WORKING   MODELS    IN   ARITHMETIC.  219 


SECTION   VI. — ANALYTICAL   WORK   IN   FRACTIONS,  FOR   GRAM- 
MAR-SCHOOL   GRADES. 

Note. — In  undertaking  to  train  pupils  to  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  analytical  processes  in  common  fractions,  it  is  de-f 
sirable  to  proceed  slowly,  taking  a  great  number  of  easy 
operations  limited  to  small  numbers  upon  each  new  proc- 
ess. In  the  following  lessons  the  analytical  method  is  pur- 
sued exclusively,  and  only  one  method  is  given.  Teachers 
who  desire  to  add  other  explanations  can  do  so ;  but,  in 
the  beginning,  it  is  best  not  to  confuse  the  minds  of  pu- 
pils with  too  many  things  at  once. 

I.    MULTIPLYING    AND    DIVIDING    BY    A    FRACTION. 

1.  Oral  Drill. 

1.  What  is  f  of  20  ? 

Analysis. —  Since  i  of  20  is  5,  f  will  be  3  times  5,  or  15. 

2.  How  many  times  is  f  contained  in  15  ? 

Analysis.  —  Since  £  is  contained  4  times  15,  or  60  times,  f  will 
be  contained  -J-  of  60,  or  20  times. 

3.  What  is  the  product  of  20  multiplied  by  f  ? 

4.  What  is  the  quotient  of  16  divided  by  f  ? 

5.  Multiply  12  by  f. 

6.  Divide  9  by  f . 

7.  What  is  f  times  24  ? 

8.  How  many  times  is  f  contained  in  24  ? 

9.  Find  f  of  100. 

10.  How  many  times  is  f  contained  in  20  ? 


220 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 


2.  Slate  and  Blackboard  Drill. 
Multiplication.  Division. 

20  X  f  =  ? 

20  -T-  4  =  5.  15  X  4  =  60. 

5  X  3  =  15.  Ans.  60  -H  3  =  20. 


Analysis. — Divide  20  by  4  to  find 
i,  and  multiply  the  quotient  5 
by  3  to  find  f . 


Analysis.  —  Multiply  15  by  4  to 
find  how  many  times  i  is  con- 
tained in  15,  and  divide  the 
product  60  by  3  to  find  how 
many  times  f  is  contained  in  15. 


Examples. 


1.  900  X  f 
3.  1200X1 
5.  $1600  Xf 
7.  $10.000  X  £ 
9.  1728m.  X 


2.       600 

4.       900 

6.  $1000 

8.  $8000 

10.     1728 


II.    MULTIPLICATION    AND    DIVISION    OF    FRACTIONS. 

1.   Oral  Drill.- 

1.  What  is  |  of  |?    Ans.  I. 

2.  How  do  you  find  -J-  of  any  number  ? 
Ans.  By  dividing  it  by  2. 

3.  How  do  you  divide  £  by  2  ? 

Ans.  By  multiplying  the  denominator  by  2. 

4.  In  what  other  way  can  you  show  this  ? 
Ans.  i  =  f,andiof2  =  i. 

5.  How  many  times  is  ^  contained  in  J  ? 
-4ws.  •£  a  time. 

6.  How  do  you  divide  any  number  by  -£  ? 
.4718.  By  multiplying  it  by  2. 

7.  How  do  you  divide  1  by  -^  ? 

Ans.  By  multiplying  £  by  2,  and  this  is  done  by  dividing  the 
denominator  4  by  2. 

8.  In  what  other  way  can  you  show  this  ? 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC.  221 

Ans.  •£-  —  5,  and  f  is  contained  in  J-  as  many  times  as  2  is  con* 

tained  in  1,  which  is  i  a  time. 
9.  What  is  1  of  1  ?    Ans.  £.     Why  ? 

10.  How  many  times  is  -|  contained  in  1  ? 
-4?w.  £  of  a  time.     Show  why. 

11.  What  is  %  of  £?    ^.  TV     Show  why. 

12.  Divide  ^  by  £?    ^?zs.  J.     Show  why. 


2.  Mental  Operations. 
Multiplication.  Division. 


Find  the  product  — 
1. 
3. 


. 


Find  the  quotient — 


2.  Of  i  divided  by  |. 
4.  Of  £  divided  by  £. 
6.  Of  &  divided  by  t,  etc. 


Dictate  ten  similar  examples. 


3.  Blackboard  Drill. 

Put  each  of  the  preceding  examples  into  the  form  of 
written  arithmetic. 

Models. 

(1.)  iXi=r?  I  (2.)  i-^-ir^:? 

i-^3  =  I   .4/zs.  1  I  x  3  = 

III.    MENTAL    OPERATIONS. 


1.  What  is  -1  of  |?    yl?w.  f. 

2.  How  is  the  answer  obtained  ? 

Ans.  By  dividing  f  by  2,  which  is  done  by  multiplying  the 
denominator. 

3.  How  many  times  is  1  contained  in  f  ?    ^4ns.  |  of  a  time. 

4.  How  is  this  answer  obtained  ? 

^Ins.  By  multiplying  §  by  2,  which  is  done  by  dividing  the 
denominator. 

5.  What  is  £  of  f  ?    ^4rcs.  &.     wllJ  ? 

6.  What  part  of  a  time  is  £  contained  in  ^  ?    Ans.  f  of  a  time. 
Why? 


222  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

7.  What  is  the  product  of  §  multiplied  by  J  ?    Am.  $.     Why  ? 

8.  What  is  the  quotient  of  f  divided  by  £  ?     4ws.  §.     Why  ? 

9.  Multiply  f  by  £  ?    Ans.  ^.     Why  ? 
10.  Divide  ^  by  J  ?     Ans.  f  .     Why  ? 

IV.    MENTAL    MULTIPLICATION. 

Principle.  —  Multiplying  by  a  fraction  gives  a  product 
less  than  the  multiplicand. 

Rule.—  Divide  the  multiplicand  by  the  denominator  of  the  multiplier, 
Examples. 

1.  What  is  the  product  of  £  multiplied  by  1?  etc. 

2.  Dictate  ten  similar  examples. 

V.    MENTAL    DIVISION. 

Principle.  —  Dividing  by  a  fraction  gives  a  quotient 
greater  than  the  dividend. 

JKule.  —  Multiply  the  dividend  by  the  denominator  of  the  divisor. 
Examples. 

1.  How  many  times  is  |  contained  in  §  ? 

2.  What  is  the  quotient  off  divided  by  -1? 

3.  Dictate  ten  similar  examples. 


VI.    SLATE    AND    BLACKBOARD    DRILL. 

Multiplication.  Division. 

(1.)  SXi  =  ?  (2.)  &-*•*  =  * 

§  +  *  =  &'  An*.  &  X  4  -  §. 

Dictate  twenty  similar  examples. 


VII.    MENTAL    MULTIPLICATION. 

1.  What  is  f  of  A  ?    .4?w.  Since  £  of  -|  is  &,  f  will  be  twice 

or  iV 

2.  What  is  |  off?    Why? 

3.  Multiply  §  by  §. 

4.  Dictate  twenty  similar  examples. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC. 


223 


VIII.    MENTAL    DIVISION. 

1.  How  many  times  is  ^  contained  in  £  ? 

Analysis.  —  Since  £  is  contained  in  §•  4  times  $,  or  $,  of  a  time, 
^  will  be  contained  ^  of  §,  or  &?  of  a  time. 

2.  What  is  the  quotient  of  £  divided  by  §? 

3.  Divide  f  by  ^. 

4.  What  part  of  a  time  is  f  contained  in  §? 

5.  Dictate  ten  similar  examples. 

IX.    SLATE    AND    BLACKBOARD    DRILL. 

Multiplication.  Division. 


Model. 


A  X  2  =  T8 
Analysis.  —  Divide  by  3  to  find  £, 
and  multiply  that  quotient  by 
2,  to  find  f  . 


(3.)  f 


Model. 

(20  T85-§-? 
&X8  =  |. 

f  -f-  2  =  f .  Am.. 

Analysis. — Multiply  by  3  to  find 
how  many  times  %  is  contained, 
and  divide  that  product  by  2, 
to  find  how  many  times  •§•  is 
contained. 

(4.)  &•*-*  =  » 
(8.).|-T-f=f 


Dictate  ten  similar  examples. 

X.    WRITTEN    MULTIPLICATION. 

i  X  |  =  ?        Analysis.— Since  J  of  £  is  &,  |  is  3  times  57ff,  or  |J ; 

I  x  I  —  lo  which  process  is  equivalent  to  multiplying  the  two 
numerators  together  for  a  numerator,  and  the  two  denominators  for 
a  denominator. 

Rule. — Place  the  product  of  the  numerators  over  the 
product  of  the  denominators. 

l.fx*  =  ?  |  2.fx§=? 

Dictate  twenty  similar  examples. 


''ME      Y      \ 

N'VERgfTY    j 
or 


224:  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 


XI.    WRITTEN    DIVISION. 

1.  Divide  §  by  f . 

%  -T-  f-  =  ?  Explanation. — Multiply  f  by  4  in  order  to  find  how 

§  X  4  =  §      many  times  J  is  contained ;  and  divide  that  result  by 
$  -j-  3  =  287     3  in  order  to  find  how  many  times  f  is  contained. 

XII.    METHOD    BY    INVERTING    THE    DIVISOR. 

Analytical  Model.  Practical  Model. 


f  -j-  3  = 

.  —  Invert  the  divisor,  and  place  the  product  of  the 
numerators  over  that  of  the  denominators. 


SECTION   VII.  —  WOKKING   MODELS   IN  MENTAL   ARITHMETIC, 
FOE   GRAMMAR-SCHOOL   GRADES. 

Directions.  —  Read  each  question  to  the  class,  allow 
from  one  quarter  to  one  half  a  minute  for  the  mental  so- 
lution, and  require  each  pupil  to  write  his  answer  on  the 
slate.  "When  the  ten  questions  have  been  given,-]et  pupils 
exchange  slates,  and  credit  the  work  as  the  teacher  reads 
the  correct  answers. 

SET  I. 

1.  What  is  f  of  84? 

2.  How  many  times  is  f  contained  in  6  ? 

3.  Divide  ^  by  4. 

4.  Multiply  f  by  3. 

5.  Divide  £  by  $. 

6.  How  many  times  is  £  contained  in  $  ? 

7.  Multiply  H  by  1|. 

8.  Divide  5£  by  5£. 


WORKING  MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC.  225 

9.  Multiply  the  decimal  .2  by  .02. 
10.  Divide  the  decimal  .2  by  .05. 

SET  II. 

1.  How  many  times  is  2  J  contained  in  40  ? 

2.  What  is  3£  times  75  ? 

3.  How  many  times  6  inches  is  50  feet  ? 

4.  Sum  ofi,i,  and  |? 

5.  Difference  off  and  £? 

6.  80  divided  by  -§-  ? 

7.  Sum  of  £  and  f? 

8.  How  many  feet  in  10  rods  ? 

9.  How  many  square  inches  in  f  of  a  square  foot  ? 
10.  How  many  acres  in  f  of  a  square  mile  ? 

SET  III. 

1.  Bought  a  horse  for  $50  and  sold  for  $75 ;  per  cent,  of  gain  ? 

2.  If  you  answer  5  questions  out  of  6,  what  per  cent,  do  you 

make? 

3.  What  is  300  per  cent,  of  §  ? 

4.  If  10  is  5  per  cent,  of  a  number,  what  is  40  per  cent.  ? 

5.  What  is  500  per  cent,  of  25  ? 

6.  What  is  £  per  cent,  of  200  ? 

7.  At  12£  cts.  per  pound,  how  much  beefsteak  can  you  buy  for 

$80? 

8.  How  many  ounces  in  4f  Ibs.  of  gold  ? 

9.  Find  the  product  of  5x4xGxOxi. 
10.  3x4-f-6  —  2x5  +  2-i-i  =  ? 

SET  IV. 

1.  Square  the  decimal  .12. 

2.  Square  root  of  625  ? 

3.  Square  root  of  .0625  ? 

4.  $28  is  175  per  cent,  of  what? 

5.  Cube  root  of  1728  ? 

6.  Cube  of  9  ? 

7.  Cube  of  .6? 

10* 


226  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

8.  Cost  of  6£  Ibs.  of  beef  at  121  cents  ? 

9.  What  part  of  4  is  f? 

10.  What  per  cent,  of  i  is  i? 

SET  V. — TEST  EXAMINATION. 

Time:   One   quarter  of   a   minute   to  each  question. 
Only  the  answers  to  be  written. 

1.  15  +  12  + 13  + 17  +  11  +  18  -f  27  =  ? 

2.  21  +  24  +  32  +  45  +  24  +  25:=? 

3.  Divide  18  by  f. 

4.  How  many  minutes  in  f  of  a  clay  ? 

5.  Cost  of  If  yards  ribbon  at  20  cents  ? 

6.  144  is  if  of  what  ? 

7.  Prime  factors  of  144  ? 

8.  G.  C.  D.  of  84  and  144  ? 

9.  L.  C.  M.  of  8, 12,  and  1C  ? 

10.  How  many  tons  in  5000  Ibs.  of  iron? 

11.  Which  is  the  heavier,  a  pound  of  silver  or  a  pound  of  cotton? 

12.  Which  is  the  lighter,  an  ounce  of  iron  or  an  ounce  of  gold? 

13.  How  many  cubic  inches  in  a  gallon  of  watei  ? 

14.  How  many  rods  in  f  of  a  mile  ? 

15.  What  part  of  a  square  inch  in  a  surface  f  of  an  inch  square  ? 
10.  Acres  in  f  of  a  square  mile  ? 

17.  Square  of  1.2  ? 

18.  Square  root  of  1600? 

19.  Cube  of  12? 

20.  Cube  root  of  125  ? 

21.  Cubic  inches  in  a  cube  of  wood  whose  edges  are  8  inches  ? 

22.  Sheets  of  paper  in  a  quarter  ream  ? 

23.  Inches  in  the  meter  ? 

24.  How  many  feet  of  board  measure  in  a  board  18  feet  long  and 

16  inches  wide  ? 

25.  Multiply  2.5  by  2.5. 

26.  Divide  .25  by  .0005. 

27.  Write  in  decimal  form  £  per  cent. 

28.  7  is  what  per  cent,  of  8  ? 


WORKING   MODELS    IN    ARITHMETIC.  227 

29.  Find  12£  per  cent,  of  $1600  ? 

30.  What  is  the  amount  of  $48  plus  75  per  cent,  of  itself? 

31.  Froui  $150  take  20  per  cent,  of  itself. 

32.  $15  is  £  of  what? 

33.  $1500  is  75  per  cent,  of  what  ? 

34.  What  number  plus  i  of  itself  equals  30  ? 

35.  What  number  increased  by  25  per  cent,  of  itself  equals  3000  ? 
86.  Bought  butter  at  25  cents,  and  sold  at  30  cents;  per  cent,  of 

gain? 

37.  Interest  on  $240  for  1  year  4  months  at  10  per  cent.  ? 

38.  Interest  on  $400  at  1£  per  cent,  a  month  for  21  days  ? 

39.  Cube  root  of  the  decimal  .125. 

40.  Inches  of  surface  on  a  cube  whose  edge  is  10  inches. 

EXTRA  QUESTIONS. 

1.  Product  of  $2.00  by  $5.00? 

2.  Divide  $2.00  by  $5.00. 

3.  25  X  4  -7-  50  —  2x10-4-2x5  =  ? 

4.  10x0^-2  +  4x5-7-2  =  ? 

5.  Which  is  the  larger,  i  an  apple  or  •£  a  pear  ? 


SECTION  VIII. — WORKING  MODELS   IN   THE  TABLES. 
I.    LONG    OR   LINEAR    MEASURE. 

Note. — As  introductory  lessons,  teachers  must  require 
pupils  to  measure  with  a  rule  the  length  of  slates,  books, 
desks,  blackboards,  rooms,  etc. ;  to  draw  by  the  eye,  and 
afterwards  to  measure  lines  of  different  lengths  on  the 
blackboard,  as,  6  inches,  1  foot,  2  feet,  3  feet,  etc. ;  to 
measure  on  the  floor  a  rod  in  length,  etc.  Such  exercises 
must  be  repeated  and  varied  until  pupils  are  trained  to 
estimate  length  with  some  degree  of  accuracy.  Pupils 
should  also  be  taught  how  to  make  rough  estimates  by 
u  pacing,"  by  "  hands,"  and  by  the  extended  arms. 


228  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 


TABLE. 

12  inches  (in.)  =  1  foot  (ft.). 
3  feet  =  1  yard  (yd.). 

IGi  feet  =  1  rod  (rd.). 

320  rods  =  1  rnile  (mi.). 


How  many 

1.  Inches  in  4|  ft.  ? 

2.  Inches  in  2f  ft.  ? 

3.  Inches  in  1  yd.  ? 

4.  Feet  in  2  rods  ? 

5.  Feet  in  10  yds.  ? 


1.  Oral  Questions. 

How  many 


6.  Feet  in  10  rods  ? 

7.  Rods  in  half  a  mile  » 

8.  Rods  in  2  miles  ? 

9.  Feet  in  10  fathoms? 
10.  Feet  in  33^  paces  ? 


2.  £Zate  a/id  Blackboard. 

1.  How  many  rods  in  25£  miles  ? 

2.  How  many  feet  in  40  rods  ? 

3.  How  many  inches  in  97^-  feet  ? 

4.  How  many  geographical  miles  in  180  degrees  of  longitude  on 

the  equator  ? 

5.  From  the  north  to  the  south  pole  the  distance  is  180  degrees. 

How  many  statute  miles  ? 

6.  How  many  statute  miles  in  length  is  the  equator  ? 

7.  London  is  in  50°  N.  L. ;   how  many  statute  miles  from  the 

equator  ? 

8.  What  part  of  a  mile  in  80  rods  ? 

9.  How  many  yards  in  3530  feet  ? 
10.  How  many  rods  in  2500  miles  ? 

II.    SQUARE    MEASURE. 

1.  Draw  on  slates  a  figure  one  inch  square. 

2.  Draw  on  slates  a  figure  2  inches  square,  and  divide 
it  into  square  inches. 

3.  Draw  a  figure  12  inches  long  and  4  inches  wide,  sub 
divide  into  square  inches,  and  count  them. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   ARITHMETIC.  229 

4.  Draw  on  the  blackboard  a  figure  1  foot  square,  sub- 
divide it  into  square  inches,  and  count  the  squares. 

5.  Draw  on  the  blackboard  a  figure  2  feet  square,  and 
subdivide  it  into  square  feet. 

1.  Oral  Questions. 
IIoio  many  square 

1.  Inches  in  a  figure  6  inches  long  by  4  inches  wide  ? 

2.  Feet  in  a  surface  9  by  4  feet  ? 

3.  Inches  in  a  surface  12  by  C  inches? 

4.  Inches  in  a  surface  1C  inches  by  -J-  an  inch? 

5.  Feet  in  a  figure  20  by  6  feet  ? 

Rule  for  Finding  the  Square  Contents,  or  Area. 
Multiply  the  number  representing  the  length  by  the 
number  representing  the  breadth,  in  the  same  denomina- 
tion, and  the  result  will  be  the  square  units  of  measure- 
ment- TABLE. 

144  square  inches  (12x12)   =1  square  foot  (sq.  ft). 

9  square  feet  (3x3)  =1  square  yard  (sq.  yd.). 

272J-  square  feet  (16£  X  16|)  =  1  square  rod  (sq.  rd.). 
160  square  rods  =  1  acre  (a.). 

640  acres  =  1  square  mile. 

2.  Practical  Application. 

Teachers  will  require  pupils  to  measure,  and  then  find 
the  square  contents  of — 

1.  The  surface  of  a  school  desk. 

2.  Of  the  teacher's  platform. 

3.  Of  a  door. 

4.  Of  a  window. 

5.  Of  a  blackboard. 
C.  Of  the  floor. 

7.  Of  one  side  of  the  room 

8.  Of  one  end  of  the  room- 

9.  Of  the  ceiling. 


230  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


3.  Oral  Questions. 

1.  How  many  square  inches  in  ^  of  a  square  foot? 

2.  How  many  square  feet  in  4f  square  yards  ? 

3.  How  many  square  inches  in  four  square  feet  ? 

4.  How  many  square  inches  on  one  side  of  a  slate  12  by  8|-  inches  ? 

5.  On  both  sides  of  a  book  6  by  3£  inches  ? 

6.  On  the  surface  of  a  desk  20  by  18  inches  ? 

7.  Square  feet  on  the  floor  of  a  room  16  by  10|  feet  ? 

8.  Square  rods  in  a  field  12  rods  by  8f  ? 

9.  Acres  in  2  square  miles  ? 
10.  Acres  in  f  of  a  square  mile  ? 

Teachers  will  require  each  pupil  to  put  to  the  class 
a  similar  question. 

4.  Slate  and  Blackboard. 

1.  How  many  square  inches  on  the  surface  of  a  desk  21f  by  16 

inches  ? 

2.  How  many  square  yards  on  a  floor  33  by  27£  feet  ? 

3.  Find  the  square  feet  of  surface  on  the  ceiling  and  walls  of  a 

room  25  by  20  feet,  and  14  feet  high. 

4.  How  many  square  inches  of  surface  on  both  sides  of  a  sheet 

of  cap  paper  ?    Measure  it. 

5.  How  many  square  yards  of  painting  on  one  side  of  a  house  60 

by  30  feet  ? 

6.  How  many  square  feet  of  land  in  a  lot  137£  by  137£  feet  ? 

7.  How  many  acres  in  4640  square  rods  ? 

8.  How  many  acres  in  159,000  square  miles? 

9.  How  many  acres  in  a  piece  of  land  1250  rods  long  by  840 

wide  ? 
10.  How  many  square  rods  in  a  square  mile  ? 

Teachers  will  dictate  five  similar  questions. 


SECTION   IX. — THE   METRIC   SYSTEM. 

1.  The  Metric  System,  the  French  system  of  weights  and  measures, 
is  based  on  the  decimal  scale. 


WORKING   MODELS    IN   ARITHMETIC. 


231 


2.  The  Meter,  the  unit  of  the  system,  is  the  ten  millionth  part  of  a 
meridian  measured  from  the  equator  to  either  pole. 

3.  The  prefixes  are : 

For  Whole  Numbers.  For  Decimal  Parts. 


Thousands. 

Hundreds. 

Tens. 

Tenths. 

Hundredths. 

Thousandths. 

Kilo-. 

Hecto-. 

Deka-. 

Deci-. 

Centi-. 

Milli-. 

1000 

100 

10 

.1 

.01 

.001 

LONG    OR   LINEAR    MEASURE. 

The  meter,  the  unit  of  length,  is  equal  to  39.37  inches  nearly.  The 
decimeter  is  about  4  inches.  Draw  on  the  board  a  meter  and  a 
decimeter. 

Teachers  can  make  a  meter  correct  enough  for  practical 
purposes  by  taking  a  stick  39f  inches  long,  and  dividing 
it  into  ten  equal  parts,  and  then  subdividing  each  part 
into  tenths. 

Kequire  each  pupil  to  make  one. 

TABLE. 

After  each  prefix  supply  the  dash  by  the  word  meter. 
Ten  equals  one  of  the  next  higher. 


Prefixes  . 
Meters  . . 

Number . 


Kilo- 
1000 

Hecto- 
100 

Deka- 
10 

Meters. 
1 

Deci- 
.1 

Centi- 
.01 

Milli- 
.001 

3k 

4h 

5d 

6m 

7 

8 

9 

1.  Practically,  the  preceding  number,  written  below  the  table,  is 
read  thus :  3456  meters,  78-^  centimeters,  and  is  written  thus : 
3456. 789m;  just  as  we  read  345  eagles,  6  dollars,  7  dimes,  8  cents, 
9  mills,  thus :  $3456.78^,  three  thousand  four  hundred  fifty  -  six 
dollars,  seventy-eight  and  nine-tenths  cents. 

The  dollar,  dime,  cent,  and  mill  correspond  to  the  meter, 
decimeter,  centimeter,  and  millimeter. 


232  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

2.  The  meter  (39.37  in.)  is  used  for  measuring  short  distances. 

3.  The  kilometer  (.6213824  mi.,  or  about  -|  mi.)  is  used  for  long 
distances. 

4.  Practically,  then,  this  table  is  reduced  to  meters  and  kilometers, 
and  their  decimal  divisions,  just  as  our  table  of  currency  is  practi- 
cally expressed  in  dollars,  cents,  and  decimals  of  the  cent. 

Practical  Questions. 

1.  Write  18  meters,  2  decimeters,  and  5  centimeters.    Ans.  13.25rn. 
Note. — This  may  be  read  18^  meters,  just  as  \ve  sometimes 

read  $18^%  instead  of  $18  and  25  cents;  or  it  may  be  read 
18  meters,  25  centimeters. 

2.  Write  45  meters,  7  decimeters,  5  centimeters,  8  millimeters. 

3.  Write  85  kilometers,  9  hectometers,  7  dekameters,  6  meters. 
Ans.  85.976k. 

4.  Read  3.00Sm ;  5.0095m ;  275.04m. 

5.  Read42.38k;  I47.3596k;  4.05k. 

Slate  and  Blackboard  Drill 

6.  Mount  Everest  is  29,600  feet  high  ;  find  its  height  in  meters. 

7.  The  Column  Veudome  in  Paris  is  40.5m  high :  Mount  Everest 
is  how  many  times  as  high  ? 

8.  Cost  of  8.5m  of  cloth  at  5  fr.  40  c.  a  meter  ? 

9.  How  many  feet  and  inches  in  15.25m? 

10.  How  many  miles  in  75  kilometers? 

11.  How  many  kilometers  in  the  circumference  of  the  earth  — 
25,000  miles  ? 

12.  The  distance  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  by  rail,  is  about 
3000  miles ;  Low  many  meters  ? 

GENERAL    RULE    FOR    THE    METP.LC    SYSTEM. 

Measure  all  lengths  in  meters,  all  capacities  in  liters,  all 
weights  in  grams,  using  decimal  fractions  onty,  and  saying 
deci  for  tenth,  centi  for  hundredth,  milli  for  thousandth, 
deka  for  ten,  hesto  for  hundred,  Tdlo  for  thousand,  and 
myria  for  ten  thousand. 


WORKING  MODELS  IN  GEOGRAPHY.         233 


CHAPTER  III. 

WORKING  MODELS  IN  GEOGRAPHY. 
SECTION   I. GLOBE    LESSONS    FOR   BEGINNERS. 

Directions. — Place  the  school  globe  on  the  table  in  front 
of  the  class,  and  require  the  pupils,  one  by  one,  to  go  up 
to  the  globe  and  point  out  with  the  finger  what  is  asked 
for  by  the  teacher.  If  one  fails  to  find  the  place  called 
for,  send  np  another,  and  so  on  round  the  class.  Tell  the 
children  nothing  that  any  one  in  the  class  is  able  to  find 
out  for  himself.  The  German  relief  globes  are  the  best 
suited  to  these  exercises. 

LESSON  I. 

1.  "What  is  the  shape  of  the  school  globe  ? 

2.  Point  out  with  your  finger  the  parts  that,  represent  laud. 

3.  Point  out  the  parts  that  represent  water. 

4.  Which  is  the  larger,  the  land  surface  or  the  water  surface? 

5.  Turn  the  globe  round  once :  on  what  does  it  turn  ? 

C.  In  what  time  docs  the  real  earth  turn  round,  or  rotate  once? 

7.  How  often  does  the  sun  rise  and  set  ? 

8.  Place  your  finger  on  the  most  northerly  point  on  the  globe: 

what  is  that  point  called  ? 

9.  Place  your  finger  on  the  most  southerly  point  of  the  globe : 

what  is  that  point  called  ? 

10.  Put  your  finger  on  the  black  line  half-way  between  the  two 

poles,  and  follow  it  all  round  the  globe :  what  is  it  called  ? 

11.  Find  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  turn  the  globe  so  that  the  class 

can  see  it. 


234  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


LESSON  II. 

1.  Point  out  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

2.  Find  the  Indian  Ocean. 

3.  Point  out  North  America. 

4.  Who  can  point  out  the  land  on  which  we  live? 

5.  Find  South  America. 

6.  Find  Asia,  Africa,  Europe. 

7.  Turn  the  eastern  hemisphere  towards  the  class. 

8.  Turn  the  western  hemisphere  towards  the  class. 

9.  Find  and  tell  the  names  of  as  many  large  islands  as  you  can. 

LESSON  III. 

1.  In  what  direction  is  the  north  pole  from  the  south  pole  ? 

2.  The  south  pole  from  the  north  pole  ? 

3.  The  north  pole  from  the  equator  ? 

4.  The  south  pole  from  the  equator  ? 

5.  North  America  from  South  America  ? 

6.  South  America  from  North  America  ? 

7.  Europe  from  Africa  ?    Africa  from  Europe  ? 

8.  Asia  from  Australia  ?    Australia  from  Asia  ? 

9.  In  what  direction  is  North  America  from  Europe  ?    Europe 

from  North  America  ? 

10.  Europe  from  Asia  ?     Asia  from  Europe  ? 

11.  South  America  from  Africa?    Africa  from  South  America? 

LESSON  IV. 

1.  Put  your  finger  on  Asia ;  on  Europe :  which  is  the  larger  ? 

2.  Put  your  finger  on  North  America ;  on  South  America :  which 

seems  to  be  the  larger? 

3.  Which  is  the  larger,  North  America  or  Europe  ? 

4.  South  America  or  Asia  ? 

5.  South  America  or  Africa  ? 

6.  Africa  or  Australia  ? 

7.  Africa  or  Europe  ? 


WORKING  MODELS  IN  GEOGRAPHY.  235 


LESSON  V. 

1.  What  is  the  southern  point  of  Africa  named  ?    Of  South  Amer- 

ica? 

2.  Point  out  and  read  the  names  of  four  large  islands  between 

Australia  and  Asia. 

3.  Which  is  the  largest  of  these  ? 

4.  Find  out  the  place  where  North  America  and  Asia  come  nearly 

together:  what  separates  them? 

5.  Which  is  the  largest  ocean  ? 

6.  Which  is  the  longest  and  narrowest  ? 

7.  What  small  ocean  around  the  north  pole? 

8.  What  ocean  around  the  south  pole  ? 

LESSON  VI. 

1.  Find  the  Amazon  River,  in  South  America. 

2.  Point  out  the  Mississippi,  in  North  America. 

3.  Find  the  Nile,  in  Africa ;  the  Niger. 

4.  Find  some  great  river  in  Asia. 

5.  Find  the  largest  river  in  Europe. 

6.  Find  any  other  river  that  you  have  ever  heard  of. 

7.  Put  your  finger  on  the  globe  where  the  Amazon  seems  to  begin; 

follow  it  down  to  the  ocean :  in  what  direction  does  it  flow  ? 

8.  In  the  same  way  follow  the  Mississippi,  and  tell  its  direction. 

9.  Follow  down  the  Nile,  and  tell  its  course. 

LESSON  VII. 

1.  Find  the  longest  range  of  mountains  in  North  America;  read 

the  name. 

2.  Follow  the  range  with  your  finger :  in  what  direction  does  it 

extend  ? 

3.  Find  the  longest  range  in  South  America ;  follow  it  with  your 

finger  over  its  whole  length :  what  is  its  direction  ? 

4.  Look  at  Asia ;  see  if  you  can  find  the  Himalaya  Mountains. 

5.  Find  the  name  of  any  other  range  in  Asia. 

6.  See  what  mountains  you  can  find  in  Europe. 

7.  In  Africa. 


236  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


LESSON  VIII. 

1.  Find  a  sea  between  North  America  and  South  America. 

2.  Put  your  finger  on  a  sea  between  Europe  and  Africa;  name  it. 

3.  Point  out  a  sea  south  of  Asia. 

4.  Put  your  finger  on  a  sea  north  of  the  island  of  Borneo. 

5.  Find  a  sea  between  Asia  and  the  Japan  isles. 

6.  What  long  and  narrow  sea  between  Africa  and  Asia  ? 

7.  Find  a  sea  north  of  Australia. 

8.  Find  a  great  gulf  south  of  the  United  States. 

9.  Find  a  great  bay  north  of  the  United  States. 

10.  Put  your  finger  on  a  great  bay  soutli  of  Asia. 

11.  Find  a  gulf  west  of  Africa,  near  the  equator. 

12.  Find  and  name  any  other  bay,  gulf,  or  sea  that  you  can. 


SECTION   II. — SECOND   SERIES    OF   GLOBE   LESSONS. 
LESSON  I. 

1.  Put  your  finger  on  the  equator,  and  follow  that  circle  entirely 

round  the  globe :  in  what  direction  does  it  extend  ? 

2.  Which  point  is  at  the  greater  distance  from  the  equator,  the 

north  pole  or  the  south  pole  ? 

3.  Make  up  a  definition  of  the  equator. 

4.  Count  the  small  circles  between  the  equator  and  the  north  pole; 

the  south  pole. 

5.  There  are  360°  in  a  circle :  how  many  degrees  is  it  from  the 

equator  to  the  north  pole  ?    The  south  pole  ? 
G.  How  many  degrees  from  the  equator  is  the  first  circle  north  of 
it  ?    The  second  ?    The  third  ?  etc. 

7.  How  many  degrees  south  of  the  equator  is  the  first  circle  ?  The 

second?    The  third?  etc. 

8.  What  is  the  use  of  these  circles  parallel  to  the  equator  ? 

Ans.  To  show  the  distance  of  places  north  or  south  from  the 
equator. 

LESSON  II. 
1.  Put  your  finger  on  London,  the  largest  city  in  the  world. 


WOEKING   MODELS   IN   GEOGRAPHY.  237 

2.  Passing  near  London,  north  and  south,  you  see  a  heavily  marked 

black  line ;  follow  it  with  your  finger  from  the  north  pole  to 
the  south  pole. 

3.  What  part  of  the  distance  round  the  globe  does  this  line  ex- 

tend? 

4.  Where  does  it  begin  and  where  does  it  end  ? 

5.  What  is  this  half-circle  called  ? 

Ans.  The  meridian  of  Greenwich. 

6.  See  if  you  can  find  any  other  half-circles  on  the  globe. 

7.  Beginning  on  the  equator,  at  the  meridian  of  Greenwich,  count 

the  half-circles  eastward  round  the  globe :  how  many  ? 

8.  i^Tow  read  the  figures  on  the  equator  where  each  of  these  half- 

circles  crosses  it:  what  is  the  first  numbered  east  of  the 
meridian  of  Greenwich  ? 

9.  What  is  the  use  of  these  half-circles  or  meridians  ? 

Ans.  To  show  how  many  degrees  places  are  east  or  west 
from  the  meridian  of  Greenwich. 

LESSON  III. 

Note. — Teachers  will  now  explain  the  use  of  the  terms 
latitude  and  longitude. 

1.  You  will  look  for  the  figures  showing  latitude  on  the  meridian 

of  Greenwich  ;  put  your  finger  on  the  place  named,  and  then 
follow  the  parallel  passing  through  or  near  that  place  around 
to  the  meridian  of  Greenwich.  If  you  have  a  meridian  globe, 
bring  the  place  to  the  edge  of  the  brass  meridian.  The  degree 
over  the  place,  counted  from  the  equator,  gives  the  latitude. 

2.  In  what  latitude  is  London  ? 

3.  In  what  latitude  is  the  northern  part  of  South  America  ? 

4.  Cape  Horn  ?     Cape  of  Good  Hope  ? 

5.  The  mouth  of  the  Amazon  ? 

6.  New  York  ?    Philadelphia  ?    Cuba  ? 

7.  The  Himalaya  Mountains  ?    The  Isthmus  of  Suez  ? 

8.  For  the  figures  marking  longitude,  look  on  the  equator,  put 

your  finger  on  the  place  named,  and  follow  the  meridian  pass- 
ing through  or  near  it  to  the  equator,  and  read  the  figures. 


238  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

With  a  meridian  globe,  bring  the  place  to  the  edge  of  the 
brazen  meridian;   the  degree  on  the  equator,  cut  by  this 
meridian,  is  the  longitude  of  the  place. 
9.  What  is  the  longitude  of  Cape  Horn  ?    Cape  of  Good  Hope  ? 

10.  Of  Iceland  ?    Of  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  ? 

11.  Of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  ? 

12.  Of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi? 

13.  Of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico? 

14.  Of  the  Caribbean  Sea  ? 

15.  Of  the  Sandwich  Islands? 

16.  Of  the  eastern  point  of  Africa  ? 

17.  Of  the  western  point  of  South  America? 

18.  Of  the  Nile  River  ? 

19.  What  is  the  greatest  latitude  any  place  can  have  ?  Why  ?  The 

greatest  longitude  ?    Why  ? 

20.  What  places  have  no  latitude  ?  no  longitude?    Why  ? 

21.  Where  is  the  place  that  has  neither  latitude  nor  longitude  ? 

LESSON  IV. 

1.  Point  out,  and  follow  with  your  finger  around  the  globe,  the 

dotted  circle  23^°  north  of  the  equator ;  find  its  name. 

2.  Point  out  in  the  same  way  the  dotted  circle  23^°  south  of  the 

equator :  what  is  it  called  ? 

3.  Add  23£  to  23£. 

4.  How  wide  is  the  equatorial,  or  torrid,  zone  ? 

5.  Point  out  and  name  two  large  islands  in  this  belt  or  zone. 

6.  Find  two  grand  divisions  principally  within  this  zone. 

7.  What  great  river  is  entirely  within  this  zone  ? 

8.  What  important  isthmus  ? 

9.  What  ocean  is  mainly  in  it  ? 

10.  In  what  zone  is  the  Niger  River  ? 

LKSSON  V. 

1.  Find  a  sea,  a  bay,  and  a  gulf  partly  in  this  zone. 

2.  Find  a  sea  wholly  in  this  zone. 

3.  Point  out  on  the  globe  the  dotted  circle  23£°  south  of  the  north 

pole :  what  is  this  circle  named  ? 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   GEOGRAPHY.  239 

4.  What  great  island  does  this  circle  cross  ? 

5.  What  three  grand  divisions  does  it  pass  through  ? 

6.  Near  what  straits  does  it  pass  ? 

7.  Find  a  dotted  circle  23£°  north  of  the  south  pole :  what  is  it 

called? 

8.  The  north  temperate  zone  lies  between  the  arctic  circle  and  the 

tropic  of  Cancer ;  follow  it  around  the  globe  with  your  two 
fingers,  one  on  each  circle. 

9.  Point  out  a  great  sea  in  this  zone. 

LESSON  VI. 

1.  In  what  zone  is  our  country  ? 

2.  In  what  zone  are  the  Japan  islands  ? 

3.  In  what  zone  is  London  ?    Paris  ?    New  York  ?    Boston  ?    San 

Francisco  ? 

4.  Find  the  south  •temperate  zone. 

5.  What  great  island  partly  in  this  zone  ? 

6.  Find  two  cities  in  this  zone. 

7.  In  which  zone  is  Cape  Horn  ?    Cape  of  Good  Hope  ? 

LESSON  VII. — MAP  EXERCISE. 

Note.  —  After  finishing  the  globe  lessons,  hang  up  an 
outline  map  of  the  hemispheres,  ask  as  many  of  the  pre- 
ceding globe  questions  as  are  suitable  for  the  map,  and 
require  pupils  singly  to  point  to  the  places  with  a  pointer. 


SECTION   III. LESSONS   IN   LOCAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

Note  for  Teachers. — The  following  sets  of  questions 
are  merely  suggestive  of  extended  lists  to  be  asked  by 
teachers : 

I.   FIRST    STEPS. — THE    SCHOOLROOM. 

1.  What  is  the  part  of  the  room  over  your  heads  called  ? 

2.  What  is  the  part  under  your  feet  called  ? 

3.  How  many  sides  has  this  room  ? 

4.  How  many  ends  ? 


240  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

5.  How  many  walls  ? 

C.  Point  out  the  right  wall;  the  left;  the  front;  the  back. 

7.  How  many  windows  arc  there  ? 

8.  Where  are  they  ? 

9.  How  many  doors  ?    Where  are  they  V 

10.  What  stand  on  the  floor? 

11.  What  hang  on  the  walls  ? 

12.  How  long  is  this  room  ? 

13.  Measure  it  by  stepping. 

14.  How  many  feet  do  you  take  in  one  long  step  ? 

15.  How  wide  is  this  room? 

16.  Point  to  where  the  sun  rises ;  sets. 

17.  Face  north;  south;  east;  west. 

18.  Where  is  the  sun  at  noon  ? 

II.    LOCAL    GEOGRAPHY    FOR    COUNTRY    CLASSES. 

LESSON  I. 

1.  What  is  the  name  of  the  town  or  village  in  which  you  live? 

2.  In  what  county  do  you  live  ? 

3.  In  what  State  do  you  live  ? 

4.  Point  to  the  place  where  the  sun  rises. 

5.  Point  to  the  place  where  the  sun  sets. 

6.  Point  towards  the  north ;  the  south. 

7.  Point  towards  the  east ;  the  west. 

8.  In  what  direction  is  your  home  from  the  school-house  ?    The 

school-house  from  your  home  ? 

9.  How  far  from  the  school-house  do  you  live  ? 
10.  How  long  docs  it  take  you  to  walk  to  school  ? 

LESSON  II. 

1.  Is  there  any  river  near  your  home  ? 

2.  Do  you  know  the  name  of  any  brook  near  us  ? 

3.  Have  you  ever  seen  a  spring  ?    If  so,  where  ? 

4.  Have  you  ever  seen  a  hill  ?     Where  ?    What  is  its  name  ? 

5.  Is  there  any  mountain  in  your  town  or  vicinity  ?    Its  name  ? 

6.  What  is  the  name  of  the  highest  mountain  you  have  ever  seen  ? 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   GEOGRAPHY.  241 


LESSON  III. 

1.  What  towns  besides  your  own  have  you  ever  seen  ? 

2.  What  towns  lie  next  to  yours  ? 

3.  Have  you  ever  visited  a  cRy  ? 

4.  What  is  its  name  ?    And  how  did  you  travel  there  ? 

5.  How  does  it  differ  from  the  place  in  which  you  live  ? 

6.  Do  you  know  the  names  of  any  large  cities  in  your  State  ? 

LESSON  IV. 

1.  What  farms  or  ranches  do  you  know  of  near  where  you  live  ? 

2.  What  kinds  of  grain  are  raised  on  them  ? 

3.  What  kinds  of  animals  are  raised  on  a  farm  ? 

4.  How  are  they  kept  during  the  winter  ? 

5.  What  are  horses  used  for  ? 

6.  Why  are  sheep  raised  ? 

7.  Why  are  cows  kept  ? 

8.  What  kinds  of  fruit  are  raised  on  the  farms  that  you  have 

seen? 

9.  How  are  butter  and  cheese  made  ? 

10.  What  kinds  of  trees  grow  in  the  woods  or  forests  near  where 
you  live  ? 

LESSON  V. 

1.  Are  there  any  saw-mills  in  your  town  ? 

2.  What  kinds  of  trees  are  sawed  into  lumber  in  them  ? 

3.  Are  there  any  grist-mills  or  flour-mills  in  your  town  ? 

4.  Are  there  any  factories,  mills,  or  machine-shops  in  your  town  ? 

5.  Did  you  ever  see  a  blacksmith's  shop  ?    Whose? 

6.  How  do  the  people  in  your  place  earn  a  living  ? 

LESSON  VI. 

1.  Have  you  ever  been  a-fishing  in  any  of  the  brooks,  rivers,  or 

ponds  in  your  town  ? 

2.  What  kinds  of  fish  can  you  catch  ? 

3.  How  do  you  catch  fish  ? 

4.  Are  there  any  mines  in  your  town  ? 

5.  What  is  got  from  them  ? 

11 


METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 


III.    LOCAL    GEOGRAPHY    FOR    CITY    CLASSES. 

1.  In  what  city  do  yon  live  ? 

2.  In  what  State  is  it  situated  ? 

3.  In  what  county  is  it  ? 

4.  Is  it  a  large  city  or  a  small  one  ? 

5.  Is  it  on  a  bay,  river,  or  lake  ? 

6.  What  is  the  name  of  the  principal  street? 

7.  On  what  street  is  your  school-house  ? 

8.  On  what  street  is  your  home  ? 

9.  On  what  street  is  the  Post-office  ?     City  Hall  ? 

10.  In  what  direction  does  the  principal  street  extend  ? 

11.  Which  way  does  the  front  of  your  school-house  face  ? 

12.  What  lies  north  of  your  city  ?     South  ?  etc. 

13.  What  railroads,  if  any,  pass  through  your  city  or  terminate 

in  it? 

14.  What  city  have  you  ever  seen  besides  your  own  ? 

Add  similar  questions  until  all  that  the  pupils  know 
about  their  own  city  is  exhausted. 


SECTION    IV. CLIMATE    AND   THE   ZONES. 

[Introductory  oral  explanations  by  the  teacher.] 

Climate. — The  climate  of  a  place  depends  on  the  kind  of  weather 
that  prevails  there,  whether  hot,  cold,  or  temperate. 

Hot  Climate. — That  part  of  the  earth  lying  near  the  equator  has  a 
hot  climate.  It  is  called  the  Torrid  Zone. 

Cause. — The  cause  of  this  hot  climate  is  the  fact  that  the  sun's 
rays  at  noonday  fall  vertically,  or  nearly  so,  upon  this  part  of  the 
earth. 

Boundaries. — The  torrid  zone  extends  23£°  on  each  side  of  the 
equator.  Its  boundary  circles  arc  the  tropics. 

Reason. — These  circles  are  23£°  from  the  equator,  because  the 
earth's  axis  is  inclined  23£°  from  a  perpendicular  to  its  path  around 
the  sun. 


WORKING   MODELS    IN    GEOGRAPHY.  243 

Seasons. — The  weather  in  the  torrid  zone  is  a  continual  summer, 
there  being  but  little  change,  except  from  the  dry  season  to  the 
rainy  season. 

Cold  Climate. — Those  parts  of  the  globe  that  lie  near  the  poles 
have  a  very  cold  climate,  and  are  called  the  Frigid  Zones. 

Boundaries. — They  lie  between  the  poles  and  the  polar  circles. 
These  circles  are  23^°  from  the  poles,  because  the  earth's  axis  is  in- 
clined 23$°. 

Seasons. — There  are  only  two  seasons — a  long  and  freezing  winter, 
and  a  short,  warm  summer. 

Reason. — The  sun's  rays  fall  slantingly,  or  obliquely,  upon  these 
parts  of  the  earth. 

Temperate  Climate. — Those  parts  of  the  earth  that  lie  between  the 
tropics  and  the  polar  circles  are  called  the  Temperate  Zones. 
These  zones  have  four  seasons ;  what  are  they  ? 

Reason. — These  changes  of  seasons  are  owing  to  the  different  way 
in  which  the  sun's  rays  fall  upon  the  earth  at  different  times  during 
the  year. 

The  teacher  will  illustrate  the  effect  of  the  inclination 
of  the  earth's  axis  by  means  of  a  globe  revolving  around 
a  light.  

SECTION    V. QUESTIONS    ON    LOCAL    WEATHER   CONDITIONS. 

[To  be  given  as  a  basis  for  conversation  lessons.] 
SET  I. 

1.  In  what  country  do  you  live  ? 

2.  In  what  zone  is  it  ? 

3.  In  what  months  does  the  snow  fall  ? 

4.  Name  the  three  winter  months. 

5.  The  three  summer  months. 

6.  When  are  the  days  the  longer,  in  summer  or  in  winter  ? 

7.  In  which  month  in  winter  are  the  days  shortest? 

8.  In  which  month  of  the  year  are  the  days  longest? 

9.  When  are  the  days  coldest? 
10.  When  are  the  days  hottest  ? 


244  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 


SET  II. 

{.  At  about  what  time  does  the  sun  rise  and  set  in  the  shortest 
winter  days  ? 

2.  In  the  longest  summer  days  ? 

3.  How  long  are  the  longest  days  ? 

4.  How  long  are  the  shortest  days  ? 

5.  How  long  are  the  longest  nights  ? 

6.  How  long  are  the  shortest  nights  ? 

7.  When  is  the  sun  more  nearly  over  your  head  at  noon,  in  sum- 

mer or  in  winter  ? 

8.  When  is  the  sun  lowest  down  in  the  sky  at  noon,  in  winter 

or  in  summer  ? 

9.  When  does  the  sun  shine  the  hottest,  at  morning,  evening,  or 

at  noon  ?     Why  ? 

10.  Does  the  sun  rise  at  the  same  point  in  the  horizon  in  summer 

as  in  winter  ? 

11.  Does  it  set  at  the  same  point  ? 

SET  III. 

1.  In  what  seasons  is  it  neither  very  hot  nor  very  cold  where  you 

live? 

2.  What  about  the  length  of  the  days  in  spring  and  autumn  ? 

3.  At  what  time  in  the  year  do  you  have  the  most  rain  ?     The 

least  ? 

4.  How  does  your  climate  compare  with  that  of  the  frigid  zones? 

Of  the  torrid  zone  ? 

SECTION   VI. — LOCAL    STATE   GEOGRAPHY, 

[An  exercise  in  general  information.] 

SET  I. 

1.  Have  you  ever  seen  a  farm  or  ranch  ? 

2.  Do  you  know  any  farmers  ? 

o.  What  is  the  work  of  a  farmer  ? 

4.  Are  there  many  agriculturists  in  your  part  of  the  State? 

5.  Are  there  any  manufactories  in  or  near  the  place  where  you 

live? 


WORKING  MODELS  IN  GEOGRAPHY.         245 

6.  What  articles  do  they  make  ? 

7.  Have  you  ever  seen  a  woollen-mill  ?    A  cotton-mill  ?    A  shoe- 

shop  ?  A  machine-shop  ?  A  flour-mill  ?  A  saw-mill  ?  A 
blacksmith's  shop?  A  quartz-mill?  A  carpenter's  shop? 
A  printing-office  ? 

8.  Are  there  any  traders  or  merchants  in  or  near  the  place  where 

you  live  ? 

9.  What  articles  do  they  keep  for  sale  ? 
10.  What  do  they  buy  ? 

SET  II. 

1.  Have  you  ever  seen  a  gold-mine?     A  silver-mine?    A  coal- 

mine ?     An  iron-mine  ? 

2.  What  mines  in  your  State  do  you  know  of? 

3.  Are  there  any  fishermen  near  where  you  live? 

4.  What  do  they  catch  ? 

5.  What  kinds  of  fish  have  you  yourself  ever  caught  ? 

6.  Are  there  any  vineyards  in  or  near  the  place  where  you  live  ? 

7.  What  is  made  on  those  vineyards  ? 

8.  How  is  wine  made  ? 

9.  Are  there  any  fruit  orchards  near  you  ? 
10.  What  kinds  of  fruit  are  raised  ? 

SET  III. 

1.  Are  there  any  stock-farms,  or  ranches,  near  you  ? 

2.  What  kinds  of  stock  are  raised  on  them? 

3.  Name  any  seaport  cities  in  your  State. 

4.  Name  any  manufacturing  cities. 

5.  In  what  parts  of  your  State  are  the  best  farms  ? 

6.  In  what  parts  the  richest  mines  ? 

7.  In  what  parts  the  most  extensive  orchards  or  vineyards. 

8.  In  what  parts  are  there  lumber-mills  ? 

9.  In  what  parts  are  the  largest  stock-ranches  ? 

10.  In  what  parts  are  the  largest  vegetable  gardens? 

SET  IV. 
1.  What  kinds  of  forest  trees  grow  in  your  State? 


246  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

2.  In  what  parts  arc  the  largest  forests  ? 

3.  What  kiuds  of  wood  do  you  burn? 

4.  Of  what  kinds  of  wood  is  your  house  built  ? 

5.  Name  all  the  kinds  of  trees  that  you  have  ever  seen  growing! 
0.  What  wild  animals  are  found  in  your  State  ? 

7.  Which  of  these  have  you  ever  seen? 

8.  What  birds  live  in  your  place  ? 

9.  Can  you  tell  the  names  of  any  wild  flowers  growing  in  your 

place  ? 

10.  What  kinds  of  fishes  can  you  catch  in  your  brooks,  rivers,  or 
ponds  ? 


SECTION   VII. COMPOSITIONS    ON    GEOGRAPHY. 

Head  this  to  the  class  as  a,  model.  Let  the  pupils  note 
on  their  slates  the  order  of  the  "  heads,"  and  then  repro- 
duce from  memory,  dividing  into  paragraphs,  but  omit- 
ting the  '''headings." 

I.   THE    NEW    ENGLAND    STATES. 

1.  [Name.] — The  six  Eastern  States  were  named  Neio  England  by 

the  early  English  explorers  and  settlers. 

2.  [Surface.] — Along  the  Atlantic  coast  there  is  a  narrow  belt  of 

lowland,  but,  in  general,  the  country  is  either  hilly  or  moun- 
tainous. The  White  Mountains  in  New  Hampshire  are  noted 
for  picturesque  scenery. 

3.  [Climate.} — The  winters  are  long  and  cold,  and  in  the  northern 

pails  of  this  section  snow  falls  to  a  great  depth.  The  sum- 
mers are  short,  but  hot. 

4.  [Lakes  and  Rivers.'] — In  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  there  are 

numerous  small  lakes,  filling  the  depressions  among  the  hills 
and  mountains.  The  principal  rivers  are  the  Penobscot,  Ken- 
nebec,  Connecticut,  and  Mcrrimac;  but  there  are  a  great 
many  smaller  streams  that  supply  abundant  water-power  for 
manufacturing  purposes. 


WORKING  MODELS  IN  GEOGEAniY.         247 

5.  [Sea-coast.] — The  long  line  of  sea-coast  lias  many  deep  and  safe 

harbors  that  afford  excellent  facilities  for  commerce. 

6.  [Forests.] — The  hills  and  mountains  of  the  northern  parts  are 

covered  with  extensive  forests,  which  supply  great  quantities 
of  lumber. 

7.  [Occupations.] — The  soil  of  New  England  is  neither  fertile  nor 

easily  cultivated.  The  leading  occupations  are  manufactures, 
commerce,  ship-building,  and  fishing. 

8.  [Cities.] — The  largest  city  and  chief  business  centre  is  Boston, 

which  ranks  in  commerce  as  the  second  city  in  the  Union. 
Among  other  important  places  are  New  Haven,  Providence, 
Worcester,  Portland,  Lowell,  Lawrence,  and  Manchester. 

Exercises  on  Outlines. 

Write  short  descriptions  of  the  different  sections  of  our 
country  from  the  following  outlines,  slightly  changed  from 
the  preceding. 

I.  The  Middle  States.  —  1.  Name.     2.  Surface.     3.  Climate.    4. 
Lakes  and  Rivers.    5.  Facilities  for  Commerce.    6.  Occupa- 
tions.    7.  Mining.     8.  Cities. 
II.  The  Southern  States.— 1.  Name.     2.  Surface.     3.  Climate.    4. 

Rivers.     5.  Agriculture  and  Products.     6.  Cities. 
III.  The  Western  States.— 1.  Name  and  Position.     2.  Surface  and 
Soil.     3.  Rivers.     4.  Agricultural  Products.     5.  Railroads. 
G.  Cities. 
IV.  The  Pacific  States. 

II.    GENERAL    DESCRIPTION    OF    OUR    COUNTRY. 

Read  to  the  class  ami  require  an  abstract  from  notes. 

Name. — Our  country  is  called  the  United  States  because  it  con- 
sists of  a  number  of  States  united  into  one  nation,  under  one 
general  government. 

Rank. — It  ranks  as  one  of  the  most  powerful,  civilized,  and  popu- 
lous nations  of  the  globe. 


248  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

Position. — It  includes  the  middle  part  of  North  America,  and  ex- 
tends from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

Mountains. — There  are  three  great  mountain  systems — the  Rocky, 
the  Appalachian  or  Alleghany,  and  the  Sierra  Nevada. 

Physical  Features. — These  mountain  ranges  make  three  great  nat- 
ural divisions — the  Atlantic  Highlands  and  the  Atlantic  Plain, 
the  Pacific  Highlands  and  the  Pacific  Slope,  and  the  Valley  of 
the  Mississippi. 

Rivers. — The  Mississippi  is  one  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  globe. 
Its  chief  branches  are  the  Missouri,  Ohio,  Platte,  Arkansas,  and 
Red  rivers.  The  other  large  rivers  are  the  Columbia,  the  Col- 
orado, and  the  Yukon,  all  of  which  flow  into  the  Pacific. 

Lakes. — Along  the  northern  border  there  is  a  chain  of  great  lakes 
which  have  an  outlet  through  the  St.  Lawrence  River  into  the 
Atlantic. 

Occupations.— The  Atlantic  Slope  is  the  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial section ;  the  Mississippi  Valley  the  agricultural  section ; 
and  the  Pacific  Slope  the  mining  and  grazing  region. 

Climate.— Our  country,  as  a  wholej  has  a  temperate  climate.  The 
winters  in  the  northern  parts  are  long  and  cold ;  in  the  south- 
ern parts,  mild  and  short.  The  Pacific  Highlands  have  but  lit- 
tle rain. 

Products. — The  farm-products  in  the  northern  belt  are  grain,  fruit, 
and  vegetables ;  in  the  southern,  cotton,  sugar,  rice,  and  to- 
bacco. 

Mining. — The  minerals  of  the  Atlantic  Slope  are  coal  and  iron, 
and  coal  oil,  or  petroleum ;  of  the  Pacific  Slope,  gold  and  sil- 
ver; of  the  northern  part  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  iron,  lead, 
and  copper. 

Exports.— The  leading  exports  are  cotton,  tobacco,  breadstufFs,  pe- 
troleum, and  manufactured  articles. 

Cities.— The  chief  seaports  are  New  York,  Boston,  San  Francisco, 
Philadelphia,  New  Orleans,  and  Baltimore.     The  great  inland 
cities  arc  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  Cincinnati. 
Capital.— Washington,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  is  the  seat  of 

government. 
Government.— The  government  is  a  federal  republic.    Congress 


WORKING   MODELS    IN    GEOGRAPHY.  219 

makes  the  laws;  the  President  executes  them;  and  the  Supreme 
Court  decides  questions  relating  to  the  laws. 

Exercise  on  Outlines. 

Describe  the  following  countries  by  filling  up  the  out- 
lines given  : 

I.  France. — 1.  Rank.     2.  Agricultural  Products.     3.  Manufact- 
ures.    4.  Exports.     5.  Paris.     6.  Other  cities. 
II.  The  German  Empire.— 1.  Government.     2.  Surface.     3.  Riv- 
ers.   4.  Agriculture.     5.  Cities. 

III.  Empire  of  Russia.— 1.  Size  and  Rank.     2.  Surface.    3.  Rivers. 

4.  Seas.     5.  Resources.     6.  Commerce.     7.  Cities. 

IV.  The  Chinese  Empire. — 1.  Size  and  Population.     2.  Products 

and  Exports.     3.  Cities.     4.  People. 

V.  Empire  of  Japan.— 1.  Position.     2.  Products.     3.  People.     4. 
Cities  and  Commerce. 


SECTION   VIII. — FACTS   ABOUT   OUR   OWN   COUNTRY. 

Note.  —  Require  all  pupils  in  the  grammar  grades  to 
copy  these  summaries  into  blank-books,  and  then  to  mem- 
orize them.  Out  of  the  mass  of  text-book  details  it  is  de- 
sirable to  fix  in  the  mind  a  few  leading  facts,  so  that  they 
will  stay  learned. 

I.   PHYSICAL    DIVISIONS. 

1.  The  Mississippi  Valley. 

2.  The  Pacific  Highlands  and  the  Pacific  Slope. 

3.  The  Atlantic  Highlands  and  the  Atlantic  Plain. 

II.  MOUNTAIN    RANGES. 

1.  The  Rocky. 

2.  The  Alleghany. 

3.  The  Sierra  Nevada. 


250  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 


III.   RIVERS. 

1.  Mississippi.  8.  Yukon. 

2.  Columbia.  4.  Colorado. 

5.  Rio  Grande. 

Chief  Brandies  of  the  Mississippi. 

1.  Missouri.  4.  Arkansas. 

2.  Ohio.  5.  Red. 

3.  Platte.  6.  Tennessee. 

Rivers  Commercially  Important. 

1.  Mississippi.  4.  Hudson. 

2.  Ohio.  5.  Penobscot. 

3.  Delaware.  6.  Potomac. 

IV.    BAYS    COMMERCIALLY    IMPORTANT. 

1.  New  York.  4.  Delaware. 

2.  Massachusetts.  5.  Chesapeake. 

3.  San  Francisco.  G.  Mobile. 

V.    GREAT    LAKES. 

1.  Superior.  4.  Erie. 

2.  Michigan.  5.  Ontario. 

3.  Huron.  6.  Great  Salt. 

VI.    CAPES    NOTED    IN    NAVIGATION. 

1.  Sandy  Hook.  3.  Cape  Hatteras. 

2.  Cape  Cod.  4.  Cape  Sable. 

VII.  CHIEF    SEAPORT    CITIES. 

1.  New  York.  4.  Philadelphia. 

2.  Boston.  5.  Baltimore. 

3.  San  Francisco.  6.  New  Orleans. 

VIII.  CHIEF    INLAND    CITIES. 

1.  Chicago.  3.  Cincinnati. 

2.  St.  Louis.  4.  Pittsburgh. 


WOKKING  MODELS  IN  GEOGRAPHY.          251 

Five  Largest  in  Population. 

1.  New  York.  3.  Brooklyn. 

2.  Philadelphia.  4.  Chicago. 

5.  St.  Louis. 


SECTION   IX. — FACTS   ABOUT  THE   CONTINENTS. 
[For  the  Highest  Grades.] 

THE  OLD  WOULD.  TUB  NEW  WOULD. 

CONTINENTAL  DIVISIONS. 
Three  grand  divisions.  Contrast.      Two  grand  divisions. 

COMPARATIVE  SIZE. 

One  half  as  large  as  the 
Old  World. 


Twice  as  large  as  the  New  )  ( 

[•    Contrast.   < 

World.  )  ( 


SHAPE. 

Compact        Length    and  )  (  Long  and  narrow.   Length 

f-    Contrast.  ]      ,,to  , 

breadth  nearly  equal.       >  (     three  times  the  breadth. 

GREATEST  LENGTH. 
East     and     west,    10,000  )  ( North    and    south,   9000 


Contrast. 


(North    j 
i     miles. 


miles. 

GREATEST  WIDTH. 

North    and    south,   7000 )  ( East      and     west,     3000 

[•    Contrast.   <         .. 
miles.  )  (     miles. 

MOUNTAIN  RANGES. 
Extend  east  and  west.  Contrast.      Extend  north  and  south. 

MOUNTAIN  PEAKS. 

Highest  near  the  Tropic  of )  (  Highest  near  the  Tropic 

Cancer.  '   }      of  Capricorn. 

PENINSULAS. 
Extend  southerly.  Similarity.    Extend  southerly. 


252 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 
SOUTHERN  POINTS. 


Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Similarity.    Cape  Horn. 

One  third  of  the  surface. 


PLAINS. 

Contrast.      Two  thirds  of  the  surface. 


PLATEAUS. 
Two  thirds  of  the  surface.       Contrast.      One  third  of  the  surface. 


Continental. 


CLIMATE. 

Contrast.      Oceanic. 

MOISTURE. 


Scanty  rains  and  great  des- )  (  Copious  rains,  great  rivers 

erts.  )  (      and  lakes. 


LIFE. 

( In  the 
CmtraSt-  I      life. 

TYPICAL  WILD  ANIMALS. 


In  the  ascendant  Animal  ^    r    f     f    j  In  the  ascendant  Vegetable 
life. 


The  elephant,  rhinoceros,  \  r  The  buffalo,  moose,  griz- 

giraflFe,  lion,  tiger,  hippo-  >    Contrast.  <      zly  bear,  sloth,  and  lla- 
potamus,  and  camel.        )  '     ma. 


NATIVE  DOMESTIC  ANIMALS. 


The  horse,  ox,  sheep,  goat,  ^ 


1C    J1UIBC,  UA,   D11UUU,    ti^ai/,    J  f 

1 ' ' r      '  /  „  \  None  except  the  dog  and 

and    hog ;     hen,   duck,  5-  Contrast.  \ 

(  )      the  turkey, 

o-oose.  and  do"1.  » 


goose,  and  dog. 

INDIGENOUS  PRODUCTS. 

Wheat,  barley,   rye,  oats, 
buckwheat,  rice,  pease, 


and  beans ;  orchard 
fruits ;  garden  vegeta- 
bles ;  spices,  silk,  cotton, 
flax,  hemp,  coflFee,  sugar- 
cane. 


Contrast.  < 


Maize,  potatoes,  tomatoes, 
bananas,  pineapples,  to- 
bacco, cocoa,  mahogany. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   GEOGRAPHY. 


253 


THF,  OLD   WOULD. 


TUB   NKW    WOULD. 


1300  millions. 


Less  than  half  Caucasian. 


POPULATION. 
Contrast.      100  millions, 


RAGE. 

Contrast. 


More  than  half  Caucasian. 


In  the  temperate  zone. 


GUEAT  NATIONS. 

Similarity.    In  the  temperate  zone. 


GREAT  CITIES. 


In  the  temperate  zone  be- 
tween 40°  and  50°  N.  L. 
London,  Paris,  Berlin, 
Vienna,  Constantinople, 
Peking,  Tokio,  Liver- 
pool. 


>  Similarity. 


In  the  temperate  zone  be- 
tween 40°  and  50°  N.  L. 
New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Bos- 
ton, San  Francisco,  Bal- 
timore, Montreal. 


SECTION    X. PHYSICAL    FEATURES    OF   THE    GLOBE. 

Note. — Pupils  in  the  highest  class  in  a  grammar-school 
ought  to  have  the  following  leading  facts : 

1.  GRAND  DIVISIONS. 

EASTERN   CONTINENT.  WESTERN   CONTINENT. 


Asia,  Africa,  Europe.     Twice  the 


North  America,  South  America. 


Half  the  area  of  the  Eastern 
continent. 


area    of   the    Western    conti- 
nent. 

2.  OCEANS. 
Pacific  and  Indian.  |  Atlantic. 

3.  CHIEF  MOUNTAIN  RANGES. 

Himalaya,  Altai,  Alps.  Rocky,  Andes,  Sierra  Nevada,  Al- 

leghany. 

4.  HIGHEST  PEAKS. 

Mt.  Everest,  Mont  Blanc,  Kiliman-   Illampu  [or  Sorata],  Orizaba, 
jaro. 


254: 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


EASTERN   CONTINENT.  WESTERN   CONTINENT. 

5.  HIGHEST  PLATEAUS. 


Thibet,  Abyssinia,  Iran. 


Pacific  Highlands,  Mexico,  Pasco, 
Bolivia,  Quito. 


G.  GREAT  PLAINS. 


1.  Russia.     2.  Siberia.     3.  Yansj- 


tee-Kiangr. 


1.  Amazon.      2.  Mississippi.      3. 
La  Plata. 


7.  CHIEF  RIVERS. 


Yang-tse-Kiang,  Lena,  Nile,  Con- 
go [or  Livingstone],  Volga. 


Amazon,  Mississippi,  La  Plata,  St. 
Lawrence,  Columbia. 


8.  CHIEF  LAKES. 


Caspian  (salt),  Victoria  Nyanza, 
Albert  Nyanza,  Aral  (salt). 


Superior,  Michigan,  Huron,  Erie, 
Great  Bear. 


9.  OCEAN  CURRENTS. 


Pacific  Equatorial,  Indian  Equa- 
torial, Japan  Current,  Austra- 
lian, Mozambique. 


Atlantic  Equatorial,  Gulf  Stream, 
Greenland  Arctic,  Humboldt 
or  Peruvian. 


10.  CHIEF  SEAS. 
Mediterranean,  China,  Arabian.      |  Caribbean,  Behring. 

11.  BAYS  AND  GULFS. 
Bengal,  Guinea,  Carpentaria.          |  Mexico,  Hudson,  Baffin. 

12.  PENINSULAS. 


Hindostan,       Arabia,      Malacca, 
Spain,  Italy,  Greece,  Scandina- 


via. 


Florida,   Yucatan,   Alaska,  Cali- 
fornia. 


13.  NOTED  CAPES. 


Good    Hope,    Verd,    Guardafui, 
North,  Coniorin,  Palmas. 


Cape  Horn,  St.  Roque,  St.  Lucas, 
Farewell,  Mendocino,  Barrow, 
Race,  Hatteras. 


WORKING  MODELS  IN  GEOGRAPHY.         255 


EASTERN  CONTINENT.  WE8TEBN  CONTINENT. 

14.  LARGEST  ISLANDS. 

1.  Greenland.     2.  Newfoundland. 


I.Australia.   S.Papua.  S.Borneo. 
4.  Madagascar.    5.  Sumatra. 


3.  Cuba.     4.  Hayti. 


15.  MOST  IMPORTANT  ISLAND  GROUPS. 


1.  The  British  Isles. 

2.  The  Japan  Isles. 

3.  The  East  Indies. 


1.  The  West  Indies. 

2.  The  Sandwich. 

3.  Aleutian. 


SECTION   XI. GENERAL    REVIEW    QUESTIONS. 

Note.  —  For  high- grade  classes.  Dictate  one  set  of 
five  questions  at  the  beginning  of  the  week.  Let  the  pu- 
pils hunt  up  the  answers  from  their  text-books,  and  take 
a  written  examination  at  the  end  of  the  week,  or  make 
the  recitation  an  oral  one. 

SET  I. 

1.  How  is  it  supposed  that  the  earth  assumed  the  shape  of  an  ob- 

late spheroid  f 

2.  Why  are  the  tropics  and  the  polar  circles  23-|°  from  the  equa- 

tor and  the  poles  ? 

3.  What  circles  on  the  globe  would  not  exist  if  the  earth's  axis 

were  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit  ? 

4.  If  the  rotation  of  the  earth  were  to  cease,  what  change  would 

be  made  in  the  distribution  of  the  water  on  the  surface  of 
the  globe  ?    What  would  be  the  effect  on  ocean  currents. 

5.  What  three  motions  has  the  earth  ? 

SET  II. 

1.  What  are  the  two  main  causes  of  a  difference  in  climate  ? 

2.  What  are  the  causes  of  the  unequal  length  of  day  and  night! 

3.  How  is  the  change  of  seasons  caused  ? 


256  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

4.  What  is  the  length  of  the  longest  day  where  you  live  ?     At  the 

Arctic  Circle  ?    At  the  equator  ?    At  the  north  pole  ? 

5.  At  what  places  on  the  earth  is  the  sun  ever  vertical  at  noonday  ? 

SKT  III. 

1.  How  are  trade-winds  caused? 

2.  State  the  two  chief  causes  of  ocean  currents. 

3.  Why  is  the  climate  of  the  western  coast  of  North  America 

milder  and  more  uniform  than  that  of  the  eastern  coast  ? 

4.  Causes  of  the  dense  fogs  that  prevail  off  Newfoundland,  the 

coast  of  Peru,  and  Alaska  ? 

5.  Cause  of  the  excellent  fishing-grounds  at  the  Grand  Banks  and 

near  the  Japan  Isles  ? 

SET  IV. 

1.  Name  the  five  chief  ocean  currents. 

2.  Describe  the  Gulf  Stream  and  the  Japan  Current. 

3.  What  winds  chiefly  supply  rain  in  the  north  temperate  zone  ? 

4.  Why  is  the  greatest  rainfall  in  the  tropics  ? 

5.  Where  arc  glaciers  found,  and  how  are  they  produced  ? 

SET  V. 

1.  Name  the  two  chief  mountain  ranges  in  each  of  the  five  grand 

divisions. 

2.  Name  the  highest  mountain  peak  in  each  of  the  grand  divisions. 

3.  Name  five  noted  volcanoes. 

4.  Name  the  chief  river  of  each  of  the  grand  divisions. 

5.  Name  four  great  rivers  flowing  into  the  Arctic  Ocean ;  four 

into  the  Atlantic  ;  four  into  the  Pacific ;  four  into  the  Indian. 

SET  VI. 

1.  Name  the  four  chief  bays  or  gulfs  in  the  Eastern  hemisphere ; 

four  in  the  Western. 

2.  Name  the  four  chief  island  groups  in  each  hemisphere. 

3.  Name  five  noted  capes  in  the  track  of  commercial  routes  in  the 

Old  World. 

4.  Name  five  noted  capes  in  the  New  World. 

6.  Name  five  rivers  noted  for  great  internal  trade. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   GEOGRAPHY.  257 


SET  VII. 

1.  Name  the  five  chief  cities  of  the  Old  World;  of  the  New. 

2.  Name  four  large  cities  in  the  Southern  hemisphere. 

3.  Name  the  five  chief  seaports  of  the  world. 

4.  Name  the  five  great  powers  of  Europe,  and  the  three  chief 

cities  of  each. 

SET  VIII. 

1.  Area  and  population,  in  round  numbers,  of  France,  Germany, 

and  Austria. 

2.  Area  and  population  of  China,  British  India,  Russia. 

3.  Population  of  each  of  the  grand  divisions. 

4.  Population  of  the  world. 

5.  Population  of  the  five  great  commercial  cities  of  the  globe. 

SET  IX. 

1.  By  what  three  commercial  routes  can  you  travel  round  the 

world  from  London  ? 

2.  How  can  a  grain-ship  sail  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool  ? 

3.  How  could  you  travel  by  water  from  Odessa  to  St.  Petersburg? 

4.  What  five  cities  would  you  pass  on  a  steamboat  trip  from  New 

Orleans  to  Pittsburgh  ? 

5.  How  could  you  go  from  New  York  to  Melbourne  ? 

SET  X. 
Geography  of  our  own  country. 

1.  Area,  population,  and  five  chief  cities. 

2.  Four  physical  divisions. 

3.  Five  leading  exports. 

4.  Five  leading  imports. 

5.  The  five  countries  with  which  our  commercial  relations  arc 

most  important. 


258  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  IY. 
LANGUAGE -LESSONS  AND  COMPOSITION  FOR  BEGINNERS. 

Note  for  Teacher*.  —  Notwithstanding  the  extent  to 
which  modern  elementary  text-books  on  language-lessons 
have  been  introduced,  there  are  still  many  schools  where 
there  is  nothing  in  the  hands  of  pupils  except  the  old- 
style  text-book  on  grammar.  The  following  models  and 
exercises  are  intended  mainly  for  teachers  who  have  to 
prepare  their  own  work  from  lack  of  a  book  in  the  hands 
of  pupils.  

SECTION   I. EXERCISES   FOR   BEGINNERS. 

Direction. — Write  a  lesson  on  the  blackboard,  and  let 
your  scholars  copy  it  on  their  slates  or  on  paper.  Then 
let  them  exchange,  compare  with  the  blackboard,  and 

correct. 

1.  Tlie  Golden  Egg. 

There  was  once  a  poor  man  who  had  a  goose  that  laid  a  golden 
egg  every  day.  This  man  was  getting  rich  very  fast,  but  he  wanted 
to  become  rich  still  faster. 

So  he  killed  his  goose,  expecting  to  find  in  her  a  whole  nestful 
of  golden  eggs.  He  was  rightly  punished  by  finding  none  at  all. 

2.  Story  of  Grip. 

Grip  was  a  good  dog  that  went  round  the  streets  of  a  great  city 
with  a  poor  old  blind  man.  Grip  led  his  master  by  a  string.  lie 
would  hold  the  old  man's  hat  in  his  mouth,  and  look  wistfully  at 
people  as  if  he  wanted  to  say, "  Please  give  my  poor  old  master  a 
little  money." 


LANGUAGE -LESSONS    AND   COMPOSITION   FOR   BEGINNERS.    259 

Grip  was  always  true  to  his  master.  lie  often  wanted  to  play 
with  other  clogs,  but  he  never  once,  in  all  his  life,  ran  away.  "When 
the  old  man  could  no  longer  go  out  of  his  room,  Grip  used  to  take 
his  master's  hat  in  his  mouth  and  go  out  on  the  streets  to  beg  for 
inonej-,  which  he  would  joyfully  carry  to  the  helpless  old  blind  man. 

3.  How  to  Write  Names. 

Rule  I. — The  particular  name  given  to  one  person, 
place,  or  thing  must  begin  with  a  capital  letter. 

EXAMPLES. 

C  George  Washington. 
Persons.  \  _r       '    ^_    .  .   c 

(  Martha  Washington. 

(  London,  Paris,  Rome. 
Places.  <  AT          '          '..          .  . 
<  New  York,  Philadelphia. 

C  Bunker  Hill  Monument. 
Thin°S-\  The  Pyramids. 

In  a  similar  manner  write  your  own  name ;  the  name 
of  your  father  and  your  mother,  and  the  names  of  five  of 
your  schoolmates. 

In  a  similar  manner  write — 

1.  The  name  of  the  place  in  which  you  live. 

2.  The  name  of  your  county  and  State. 

3.  The  name  of  any  State  near  yours. 

4.  The  name  of  any  river  you  know  of. 

5.  The  names  of  three  men  and  three  women  that  you  know. 

4.  Names  of  Persons. 

Rule  II. — When  only  the  initial  letter  of  a  given  name 
is  written,  put  a  period  after  each  initial.  When  a  per- 
son has  two  given  names,  it  is  customary  to  write  only 
the  initial  of  the  second  or  middle  name. 

i  Charles  Henry  Rrov?n=  Charles  H.  Brown. 
Models.  <  James  Knox  Polk=James  K.  Polk. 
(  Ella  Maria  Smith —Ella  M.  Smith. 


260  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

In  a  similar  manner  write  the  following: 

1.  Your  own  name,  your  father's  name,  and  your  mother's. 

2.  The  names  of  your  brothers  and  sisters. 

3.  The  names  of  five  of  your  schoolmates. 

4.  The  name  of  the  President ;  of  the  Governor  of  your  State ;  and 

of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  your  State,  city,  town,  or 
county. 

5.  The  names  of  five  great  men. 

5.  Composition  Exercise. 

Select  one  of  the  following  subjects,  and  write  all  that 
you  can  remember  of  any  story  relating  to  it  that  you 
ever  read  or  heard : 

1.  Story  about  a  Bog.  3.  Story  about  a  Bear. 

2.  Story  about  a  Lion.  4.  Story  about  a  Wolf. 

6.  Composition  Exercise. 

Write  any  story  told  to  you  by  your  mother  or  your 
father.  Exchange  and  correct. 

Note. — If  it  is  possible  for  pupils  to  provide  themselves 
with  a  small  blank-book,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  require  the 
most  interesting  of  the  exercises  to  be  copied  into  it ; 
otherwise  pupils  should  be  required  to  preserve  and  file 
their  exercises. 

7.  Composition  Exercise. 

Write  a  short  account  of  your  last  vacation;  stating 
where  you  went,  what  you  saw,  what  you  did,  and  what 
kind  of  a  time  you  had. 

DIRECTIONS. 

Begin  each  word  of  the  heading  of  your  composition 
with  a  capital — thus:  "My  Last  Vacation."  Begin  each 
new  sentence  with  a  capital  and  end  it  with  a  period. 


LANGUAGE-LESSONS   AND   COMPOSITION   FOR   BEGINNERS.     261 

Exchange  and  correct  the  misspelled  words,  the  mistakes 
in  writing  the  word  7,  and  the  errors  in  the  use  of  cap- 
itals. 

8.  Criticism. 

Write  the  following  child's  composition  on  the  board, 
and  let  the  pupils  criticise  it : 

MY  LAST  VACATION.     [Sixth  Grade,  sige  8.] 

I  had  a  very  plesant  time  in  vacation.  I  went  to  a  picnick  and  i 
had  a  very  plesant  time,  and  i  went  to  see  the  Forth  of  July  to  a 
ladies  house,  i  did  not  go  to  the  country. — Louise. 

9.  Apostroplie  and  s  ['«]. 

Iiitle  III. — When  a  noun  denoting  but  one  person, 
place,  or  thing  is  used  to  express  ownership,  the  noun 
must  be  written  with  the  apostrophe  and  s  added — thus : 
Mary's  book;  the  horse's  mane. 

EXERCISES. 

Copy  the  following  examples,  and  be  careful  to  write 
the  apostrophe  and  s : 

1.  I  have  Henry's  slate,  George's  pencil,  and  Harriet's  reading- 

book. 

2.  That  is  my  father's  horse. 

3.  My  grandmother's  pies  are  good. 

4.  I  found  a  robin's  nest  in  my  father's  orchard. 

5.  Everybody's  business  is  nobody's  business. 

Rule  IV. — When  nouns  denoting  more  than  one  per- 
son, place,  or  thing,  and  ending  in  s,  are  used  to  express 
possession,  the  nouns  must  be  written  with  only  an  apos- 
trophe added — thus :  Horses'  manes ;  birds'  nests. 

EXERCISES. 

Copy  the  following  examples : 

1.  My  sister  attends  the  Girls'  High-school. 


262  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

2.  My  brother  goes  to  the  Boys'  Grammar-school. 

3.  The  girls'  compositions  were  very  good. 

4.  The  boys1  papers  were  neatly  written. 

5.  Ladies'  shoes  and  men's  boots. 

EXERCISE. 

Copy  all  the  nouns  denoting  ownership  from  a  reading- 
lesson  assigned  for  this  purpose. 

10.  Sentence-making. 

Write  with  each  of  the  following  nouns  a  simple  de- 
clarative sentence  by  using  one  verb  to  express  the  char- 
acteristic sound  made  by  each  of  the  kinds  of  animals 

named. 

DIRECTION. 

Each  sentence  must  consist  of  only  two  words.  Each 
Eentence  must  begin  with  a  capital  and  end  with  a  period. 

Model  Sentence. — Bees  buzz. 


Bees 

Doves 

Lambs 

Peacocks 

Bears 

Ducks 

Lions 

Pigs 

Bulls 

Eagles 

Mice 

Robins 

Cats 

Flies 

Monkeys 

Sheep 

Cows 

Frogs 

Owls 

Snakes 

Chickens 

Hens 

Oxen 

Swallows 

Dogs  Horses  Parrots  Wolves 

Exchange  exercises  and  correct  one  another's  mistakes ; 
then  rewrite  your  corrected  sentences. 

EXKUCISU. 

Change  each  of  the  sentences  that  you  wrote  in  the 
preceding  lesson  into  an  interrogative  sentence ;  that  is, 
one  that  asks  a  question. 


LANGUAGE-LESSONS    AND   COMPOSITION   FOR   BEGINNERS.      263 


DIRECTION. 

Use  only  three  words  in  each  sentence.  Each  sentence 
must  begin  with  a  capital  and  end  with,  an  interrogation 
point. 

Model  Sentence.— Do  bees  buzz  ? 

EXERCISK. 

Change  each  of  the  sentences  that  you  wrote  in  the 
preceding  lesson  into  an  exclamatory  sentence;  that  is,  a 
sentence  expressing  wonder  or  surprise. 

DIRECTION. 

Use  only  four  words  in  each  sentence.  Each  sentence 
must  begin  with  the  word  How,  and  end  with  an  exclama- 
tion mark. 

Model  Sentence. — How  the  bees  buzz! 

1 1 .  The  Cries  of  An  imals. 

Make  simple  sentences  by  placing  the  name  of  the 
proper  animal  before  each  verb. 

bray  caw  chirp  grunt 

hum  bark  squeak  drum 

drone  bay  cluck  croak 

growl  howl  neigh  moan 

bellow  yelp  whinny  twitter 

mew  coo  chatter  growl 

purr  quack  baa  gobble 

bleat  scream  roar  snarl 

pipe  buzz  squeal  sing 

crow  croak  hoot  caterwaul 

moo  cackle  screech  whistle 

low  hiss  talk 


264:  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


12.  Letter-writing. 

Require  the  pupils  to  write  a  short  letter  about  their 
school  to  their  father  or  mother. 

CRITICISM. 

Put  the  following  first  attempt,  by  a  child  nine  years 
old,  upon  the  blackboard,  and  let  the  pupils  point  out  the 
mistakes : 

My  Dear  Mamma 

I  am  a  good  girl  in  school  And  I  know  my  lessons  well.  This  is 
the  first  time  I  ever  wrote  a  letter  to  you.  And  I  want  to  write  well. 
I  like  to  come  to  school.  And  get  my  lessons  well.  We  write  on  the 
blackboard  with  chalk  and  we  draw.  I  am  nomber  fourteen  in  my 
class.  I  am  going  to  try  to  get  promoted  by  Christinas.  I  would 
like  to  get  some  Christmas  presence  If  I  can.  Please  exquse  my 
writing  as  my  ink  was  black. 

Your  affectionate  child 

Emma 
13.  Punctuation. —  The  Comma. 

Rule  V. — When  only  two  nouns,  verbs,  adjectives,  or 
adverbs  are  joined  by  and,  they  are  not  separated  by  a 
comma ;  but  when  more  than  two  are  so  connected,  they 
must  be  marked  off  by  commas. 

Copy  the  following  examples  of  the  rule : 

1.  Men  and  women  work  in  the  mill.     [No  comma.] 

2.  Men,  women,  and  boys  work.     [Use  commas.] 

3.  Boys  run  and  play.     [No  comma.] 

4.  Boys  run,  play,  jump,  skate,  and  slide. 

5.  The  apples  are  large  and  red.     [No  comma.] 

6.  The  apples  are  large,  red,  mellow,  and  sweet. 

7.  Ilattie  writes  neatly  and  correctly. 

8.  Hattie  writes  neatly,  correctly,  and  rapidly. 


LANGUAGE-LESSONS   AND   COMPOSITION   FOE   BEGINNEBS.     205 

14.  Composition. 
Subject. — An  Account  of  Myself. 

f  1.  Begin  every  sentence  with  a  capital. 

Directions.  <  2.  Begin  with  a  capital  each  word  of  the  subject,  except  of. 
(  3.  Do  not  string  sentences  together  with  ands. 


15.  Composition. 

1.  How  to  set  the  table.     [For  girls.] 

2.  How  to  behave  at  the  table.     [For  boys.] 


16.  Composition. 

Write  from  memory  a  short  sketch  of  any  one  of  the 
following  stories,  selecting  the  one  you  like  best.  Teach- 
ers will  pass  the  compositions  to  a  higher  grade  to  be 
corrected. 

1.  Tom  Thumb.  3.  Robinson  Crusoe. 

2.  Children  in  the  Wood.  4.  Sindbad  the  Sailor. 

5.  Any  one  of  Hans  Andersen's  Tales. 

17.  Composition. 

Write  a  description  of  the  school  that  yon  attend.  Fill 
out  the  following  outlines,  making  a  paragraph  out  of 
each  heading: 

My  School. —  Outlines. 

(  In  what  city  or  town,  on  whalT  street,  or  in  what  part 

1.  Situation.   <  .    ' 

(      of  the  town  or  village. 

(  Large  or  small :  of  what  material ;  color :  number  of 

2.  Building.    < 

(      rooms,  etc. 

(  Number  of  classes  or  grades ;  number  of  scholars : 

3.  The  school.  {  .       ,    ,    . 

(      names  of  teachers ;  in  what  class  you  are,  etc. 

(  State  what  you  study;  what  studies  you  like  best; 
m'      \      and  anything  else  of  interest. 
12 


200  METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 

18.  Observation  and  Memory. 

I.  Write -an  interesting  anecdote  or  story  about  any  one  of  the 
following : 

1.  Dogs.        2.  Bears.        3.  Elephants.        4.  Wolves. 
II.  Write  what  you  know  about  how  or  where  any  of  the  follow- 
ing birds  build  their  nests : 
1.  Swallows.     2.  Crows.     3.  Woodpeckers.    4.  Orioles. 

III.  Write  what  you  know  about  how  or  where  any  of  the  follow- 

ing wild  animals  live. 

1.  Foxes.        2.  Rabbits.        3.  Squirrels.        4.  Deer. 

IV.  State  where  each  of  the  following  species  of  fish  is  found  and 

how  caught : 

1.  Shiners.  3.  Pickerel.  5.  Mackerel. 

2.  Perch.  4.  Trout.  6.  Cod. 

19.  Wild  Animals. 

"Write  a  composition  by  answering  the  following  ques- 
tions about  such  of  the  following  wild  animals  as  live  in 
your  part  of  the  country  : 

1.  In  what  places  are  they  found  ? 

2.  What  do  they  eat,  and  how  do  they  obtain  their  food  ? 

1.  Foxes.  3.  Rabbits.  5.  Raccoons. 

2.  Woodchucks.  4.  Bears.  6.  Squirrels. 

20.  Domestic  Animals. 

About  the  following  animals  write  whatever  you  have 
observed  that  would  lead  you  to  think  they  know  any- 
thing: 

1.  Dogs.  3.  Horses.  5.  Cattle. 

2.  Cats.  4.  Hogs.  6.  Sheep. 

21.  Composition. 
Select  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  following  sub- 


LANGUAGE-LESSONS   AND   COMPOSITION   FOE   BEGINNERS.     267 

jects,  and  write  about  it  the  best  story  that  you  ever  heard 
or  read : 

1.  Dogs.  3.  Wolves.  5.  The  Lion.  7.  Ants, 

2.  Bears.  4.  Horses.  6.  The  Elephant.  8.  Bees. 

22.  Composition. 

•     Write  something  that  you  yourself  have  observed  about 
the  actions  or  habits  of  any  of  the  following  animals  : 

1.  Dogs.      3.  Mice.      5.  Crows.       7.  Bees.  9.  Squirrels. 

2.  Cats.       4.  Rats.      6.  Robins.      8.  Swallows.      10.  Foxes. 

23.  Composition. 

Write  all  you  know  about  how  or  where  the  following 
birds  build  their  nests : 

1.  Robins.  5.  Bluebirds.  9.  Sparrows. 

2.  Swallows.  C.  Bobolinks.  10.  Humming-birds. 

3.  Crows.  7.  Woodpeckers.  11.  Nighthawks. 

4.  Larks.  8.  Golden  Robin.  12.  Eagles. 

24.  General  Exercises. 
I.  Write  a  letter  to  your  father  or  mother,  and  then  compare  it 

with  the  first  one  you  wrote. 

II.  Commit  to  memory,  and  then  write,  two  stanzas  of  poetry,  as- 
signed by  your  teacher. 

III.  Write  a  letter  to  anybody  you  choose. 

IV.  Write  the  story  of  Jack  the  Giant-killer. 
V.  Write  the  story  of  Cinderella. 

VI.  Write  all  you  can  remember  about  the  "  house  that  Jack 

built." 
VII.  Write  all  you  know  about  the  trade  or  occupation  of  your 

father  or  mother. 

VIII.  Write  about  a  visit  to  any  of  your  friends  or  relatives. 
IX.  Write  a  letter  to  your  teacher  telling  what  you  intend  to  do 

during  your  next  vacation. 

X.  Write  a  letter  to  your  doll,  telling  her  how  to  write  a  letter 
to  you.     [For  girls.] 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  V. 
PRACTICAL  COMPOSITION  IN  GRAMMAR  GRADES. 

1.  Special  Directions. 
I.  Avoid  "  fine  writing." 

II.  Never  use  two  words  where  one  will  fully  express  your  mean- 
ing. 

III.  Avoid  long  and  complicated  sentences. 

IV.  Divide  into  paragraphs  and  punctuate  as  you  write. 

V.  In  correcting  your  first  rough  draft,  observe  the  following  or- 
der: 

(a.)  Cross  out  any  adjectives,  or  other  words,  that  can  be  spared. 

(&.)  Interline   any  omitted  words,  or  transpose   any  words, 
phrases,  or  clauses  to  a  better  position  in  the  sentence. 

(c.)  Substitute  more  exact  words  whenever,  by  so  doing,  you 
can  make  the  sentence  clearer. 

(d.)  Go  over  your  composition  very  carefully,  with  reference 
to — 1.  Spelling;  2.  Capitals;  3.  Punctuation ;  4.  Grammat- 
ical correctness ;  5.  Dot  your  i's  and  cross  your  t's. 
VI.  Copy  in  legible  hand-writing. 

2.  General  Principles  of  Sentence-making. 

1.  Every  sentence  must  be  complete.     It  must  contain  at  least  one 

principal  subject  and  one  principal  predicate,  each  of  which 
must  either  be  expressed  or  clearly  implied. 

2.  Explanatory  words,  phrases,  or  clauses  must  be  connected  as 

closely  as  possible  to  the  words  which  they  explain  or 
modify. 

3.  In  simple  sentences,  be  careful  about  the  position  of  words  and 

phrases ;  in  complex  sentences,  about  the  position  of  clauses 
and  the  use  of  connectives ;  and  in  compound  sentences, 
about  the  use  of  conjunctions  of  the  and  type. 


PRACTICAL   COMPOSITION   IN   GRAMMAR   GRADES.        269 

4.  When  there  are  several  adverbial  phrases  or  clauses  in  a  sen- 

tence, they  should  be  distributed  over  the  sentence,  instead 
of  being  crowded  together  near  the  close. 

5.  Avoid  writing  long  complex  or  compound  sentences.     It  is 

better  for  beginners  to  write  short  sentences. 

6.  Use  only  words  whose  meaning  you  fully  comprehend. 

7.  Express  simple  ideas  in  plain  words. 

8.  Avoid  the  use  of  high-sounding  adjectives  and  high-flown  lan- 

guage. 

9.  Use  only  words  enough  clearly  to  express  your  meaning. 

3.  Tlie  Paragraph. 

I.  A  paragraph  is  a  closely  connected  series  of  sentences  relating 
to  the  same  subject,  or  to  some  particular  part  of  a  subject. 
Sentences  are  built  up  of  words,  phrases,  and  clauses;  para- 
graphs are  made  up  of  simple,  complex,  or  compound  sen- 
tences. Composition  consists  of  a  succession  of  connected 
paragraphs. 

il.  The  art  of  dividing  a  piece  of  composition  into  paragraphs  is 
best  learned  by  noticing  carefully  the  paragraphing  in  your 
readers,  histories,  or  other  books ;  but  the  following  direc- 
tions may  be  of  use  to  beginners : 

1.  In  general,  make  a  new  paragraph  whenever  you  make  a  new 

turn  of  thought. 

2.  Denote  a  new  paragraph  by  beginning  the  sentence  a  short 

space  to  the  right  of  the  left-hand  margin. 

3.  The  sentences  included  in  one  paragraph  should  all  relate  to 

the  same  division  of  the  subject. 

4.  The  line  of  thought  should  be  continued  between  paragraphs, 

if  necessary,  by  some  such  connectives  as  and,  ~but,  moreover, 
however,  thus,  at  the  same  time,  etc. 


I.  NARRATION    AND    DESCRIPTION. 

Select  one  of  the  following  subjects,  and  write  an  ac- 
count of  where  you  went,  what  you  did,  and  what  you 


270 


METHODS   OF  TEACHING. 


saw  on  that  occasion.     Describe  events  in  the  order  of 
their  occurrence : 

I. 

4.  New-year's-day. 

5.  May-clay. 

6.  My  Last  Holiday. 


1.  The  Fourth  of  July. 

2.  Thanksgiving-day. 

3.  Christmas-day. 


1.  A  Picnic. 

2.  A  Boat  Excursion. 

'3.  A  Fishing  Excursion. 


1.  My  Pets. 

2.  My  School  and  Teachers. 
0.  My  Autobiography. 


II. 


4.  My  Longest  Journey. 

5.  A  Sleigh-ride. 

6.  My  Flower-garden. 


III. 

4.  My  School  Troubles. 

5.  My  Favorite  Studies, 

6.  Housekeeping. 


II.   LETTER-WRITING. 

1.  Write  a  letter  to  some  friend  or  relative,  giving  an  account  of 

your  school^work. 

2.  Write  a  letter  introducing  your  friend  John  Smith  to  John 

Brown. 

3.  Write  a  letter  applying  for  a  position  as  clerk  or  teacher. 

4.  Write  an  order  to  some  bookseller  for  some  books  that  you 

wish  to  buy. 

5.  Invite  your  friend  to  dine  with  you. 

6.  Write  a  letter  of  thanks  for  a  present. 


III.   IMAGINATIVE    LETTERS. 

1.  To  Santa  Glaus. 

2.  To  the  Man  in  the  Moon. 

3.  To  Old  Father  Time. 

4.  To  the  Emperor  of  China. 

5.  To  the  author  of  any  one  of  your  school-books,  criticising  or 

commending  his  book. 


PRACTICAL   COMPOSITION   IN   GRAMMAR  GRADES.       271 
IV.   ABSTRACTS    FROM    MEMORY. 

Read  aloud  to  the  class,  and  let  pupils  rewrite  from 

memory. 

The  Ugly  Duck. 

Towards  evening  the  little  Duck  came  to  a  miserable  hut  where 
there  lived  an  old  woman  with  her  Tomcat  and  her  Hen.  The  Tom- 
cat could  arch  his  back  and  purr,  and  the  Hen  could  lay  eggs  and 
cluck.  They  were  both  very  proud  of  their  accomplishments. 

In  the  morning,  when  they  saw  the  little  Ugly  Duck,  the  Tomcat 
began  to  purr  and  the  Hen  began  £o"  cluck.  "  Can  you  lay  eggs  ?" 
said  Mistress  Hen.  "No,"  said  the  Ugly  Duck.  Then  the  Tom- 
cat, who  was  master  of  the  house,  said,  fiercely,  "  Can  you  arch  your 
back  and  purr?"  "No,"  said  the  frightened  Duck.  "Then  you 
must  hold  your  tongue  when  sensible  people  arc  speaking,"  said 
Master  Tomcat. 

"  I  think  I  would  like  to  swim,"  timidly  said  the  little  Duck. 
"  Ask  the  Cat  about  it,"  said  the  Hen ;  "  he  is  the  wisest  animal  I 
know — ask  him  if  he  likes  to  swim." 

"  Ask  the  old  woman,"  said  the  Tomcat,  "  there  is  nobody  wiser 
than  she  is;  ask  her  if  she  likes  to  put  her  head  under  water." 

"You  don't  quite  understand  me,"  said  the  poor  little  Duck. 
"  Don't  be  conceited,"  said  both  the  Tomcat  and  the  Hen,  with  one 
voice  ;  "  only  learn  to  lay  eggs  and  to  purr." 

EXERCISES. 

Write  from  memory  the  story  of— 


1.  Bluebeard. 

2.  Kobin  Hood. 

3.  Little  Red  Riding-hood. 

4.  Cinderella. 

5.  The  Forty  Thieves. 


6.  Aladdin. 

7.  A  Fairy  Tale. 

8.  Sindbad  and  the  Diamonds. 

9.  Crusoe  and  Friday. 
10.  Crusoe  and  his  Goat. 


V.   STORIES    OF    THE    IMAGINATION". 

Select  from  the  following  subjects  the  one  that  you  like 
best,  and  write  a  story  about  it : 


272  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 


1.  A  Ghost  Story. 

2.  A  Witch  Story. 

3.  A  Fairy  Story. 

4.  My  Castle  in  Spain. 

5.  What  I  would  do  if  I  were  Rich. 


6.  Autobiography  of  a  Doll. 

7.  Autobiography  of  a  Dollar. 

8.  Autobiography  of  a  Spinning' 

wheel. 


VI.    SHORT    DESCRIPTIONS    OF    TREES. 

Fill  out  the  following  outlines : 

I.  The  Oak. — Size;   height;  leaves;   varieties  or  kinds;   wood; 

hardness  ;  toughness.   Uses  :  ships ;  furniture ;  farming  tools ; 
fuel.     Acorns ;  bark  and  its  uses. 

II.  The  Pine. — Where  found;  size;  height;  leaves;  cones;  varie- 

ties.    Uses :  buildings ;  furniture ;  ships ;  masts ;  fuel,  etc. 

EXERCISES. 

In  a  similar  manner  write  short  sketches  of  such  of  the 
following  trees  as  you  have  seen  growing  in  your  part  of 
the  country : 

1.  The  Maple.          4.  The  Birch.  7.  The  Spruce. 

2.  The  Elm.  5.  The  Chestnut.          8.  The  Hemlock. 

3.  The  Beech.  6.  The  Walnut.  9.  The  Sycamore. 

VII.   METALS    AND    MINERALS. 

Fill  out  the  outlines  with  all  you  know  about  the  fol- 
lowing inetals  and  minerals: 

I.  Iron. — Where  found ;  how  mined.  Qualities :  tenacity,  hard- 
ness, etc.  Kinds:  cast;  wrought;  steel.  Uses :  machinery ; 
kitchen  utensils ;  implements ;  cutlery,  etc. 

II.  Gold. — In  what  countries  found ;  color  and  qualities.     Uses: 

money ;  watches ;  jewelry ;  gilding ;  dentistry,  etc. 

III.  Granite. — Where  found;  color;  hardness;  durability.     Coin' 

position:  quartz;  felspar;  mica.     Uses. 


PRACTICAL   COMPOSITION   IN   GRAMMAR   GRADES.       273 

EXERCISES. 

In  a  similar  manner,  write  all  you  know  about  each  of 
the  following : 

1.  Silver.          3.  Copper.          5.  Marble.  7.  Limestone. 

2.  Lead.  4.  Coal.  6,  Sandstone.  8.  Quicksilver. 

VIII.  MANUFACTURED    ARTICLES. 

Reproduce  this  model  from  memory : 

A  Dime. — A  dime  is  a  coin  made  from  silver  with  which  is  mixed 
a  small  quantity  of  copper.  It  is  coined  in  the  United  States  Mint. 
The  solid  bars  of  silver,  called  lullion,  are  melted,  refined,  and  cast 
into  smaller  bars,  which  are  then  rolled  out  into  long,  thin,  narrow 
strips  like  ribbons.  These  ribbons  are  passed  under  a  powerful  ma- 
chine, which  cuts  out  the  circular  pieces  of  silver  perfectly  smooth. 
These  smooth  pieces  are  then  stamped  in  a  die,  which  gives  them 
the  ornamental  impressions  seen  on  a  dime. 

EXERCISES. 

Write  short  descriptions  of  such  of  the  following  things 
as  are  made  in  your  vicinity: 

1.  A  Nail.       3.  A  Brick.       5.  A  Shoe.  7.  Cotton  Cloth. 

2.  A  Pin.        4.  A  Boot.        6.  A  Horseshoe.       8.  Woollens. 

IX.   GEOGRAPHICAL    COMPOSITIONS. 

My  Native  Place. 

In  your  description  use  the  following  outlines,  making 
a  paragraph  out  of  each  heading.  Mark  a  new  paragraph 
by  beginning  the  first  line  half  an  inch  to  the  right  of  the 
left-hand  margin.  At  home,  ask  your  parents  about  what 
you  do  not  know. 

r  Name  of  place ;  in  what  State  and  country ;  on  what 
1.  Situation.     1     river,  lake,  bay,  or  other  water ;  near  what  large 
(      city  or  town. 

12* 


274:  METHODS  OF   TEACHING. 

r  Size,  population,  trade,  railroads,  steamers,  ships, 
2.  Description.  <      mills,  factories,  farm-products,  lumber,  live-stock, 
(      etc. 

{Mention  any  objects  of  special  interest,  such  as  moun- 
tains, hills,  forests,  lakes,  ponds,  rivers,  parks,  gar- 
dens, buildings,  etc.  Close  with  any  interesting 
event  in  the  history  of  the  place. 


X.   GENERAL    EXERCISES. 

I.  Select  your  own  subject,  and  write  the  best  composition  you 
can,  being  particularly  careful  about  spelling,  punctuation, 
and  capitals. 

II.  Write  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  the  city,  describing  the  appear- 
ance of  the  country  at  the  time  you  write.  [For  country 
scholars.] 

III.  Write  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  the  country,  telling  what  is  going 

on  in  the  city.     [For  city  scholars.] 

IV.  Write  a  letter  to  your  father,  telling  him  what  you  have 

learned  during  the  past  year. 
V.  Composition. — "  Our  School  Games." 
VI.  Composition. — "  Going  a-Fishing."     [For  boys.] 
VII.  Composition.— "A  Fairy  Tale."     [For  girls.] 
VIII.  Composition.—"  How  to  Make  Bread."     [For  girls.] 
IX.  My  Best  Story-book. 
X.  Write  from  memory  the  best  piece  of  poetry  you  know. 


XI.  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

Reproduce  the  following  from  memory,  compare  with 
the  original,  and  correct  errors : 

1.  The  Boyhood  of  Lincoln. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  son  of  a  farmer,  was  born  in  Kentucky  in 
1809 ;  but  his  youth  was  passed  mainly  in  Indiana.  His  father  had 
chosen  to  settle  at  the  farthest  verge  of  civilization.  Around  him 
was  a  dense  forest,  still  wandered  over  by  the  Indians.  The  next 


PKACTICAL   COMPOSITION   IN   GRAMMAR   GRADES.       275 

neighbor  was  two  miles  away.     There  were  no  roads,  no  bridges,  no 
inns. 

Abraham  had  little  schooling.  Indeed,  there  was  scarcely  a  school 
within  his  reach  ;  and  if  all  the  days  of  his  school-time  were  added 
together,  they  would  scarcely  make  up  one  year.  His  father  was 
poor,  and  Abraham  was  needed  on  the  farm.  There  was  timber  to 
fell,  there  were  fences  to  build,  fields  to  plough,  sowing  and  reaping 
to  be  done.  Abraham  led  a  busy  life,  and  knew  well,  while  yet  a 
boy,  what  hard  work  meant.  Like  all  boys  who  come  to  anything 
great,  he  had  a  devouring  thirst  for  knowledge.  He  borrowed  all 
the  books  in  his  neighborhood,  and  read  them  by  the  blaze  of  the 
logs  which  his  own  axe  split.  He  entered  a  small  store  as. clerk, 
then  became  a  lawyer,  next  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Illinois, 
and,  finally,  in  1861,  he  became  President  of  the  United  States. 

2.  Alfred  the  Great. 
[Adapted  from  Dickens's  Child's  History  of  England.'} 

This  noble  king  possessed  all  the  Saxon  virtues.  Misfortune 
could  not  subdue  him,  and  prosperity  could  not  spoil  him.  He  was 
hopeful  in  defeat,  and  generous  in  success.  He  loved  justice,  free- 
dom, truth,  and  knowledge.  In  his  care  to  instruct  his  people,  he 
did  a  great  deal  to  preserve  the  old  Saxon  tongue.  He  made  just 
laws  for  his  people.  He  founded  schools  and  appointed  upright 
judges.  He  left  England  better,  wiser,  happier  in  all  ways,  than  he 
found  it. 

Under  his  reign  the  best  points  of  the  English-Saxon  character 
were  developed.  It  has  been  the  greatest  character  among  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth.  Wherever  the  descendants  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
have  gone  or  sailed,  they  have  been  patient  and  persevering.  In 
Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  America,  the  whole  world  over;  in  the  desert, 
in  the  forest,  on  the  sea,  scorched  by  a  burning  sun,  or  frozen  by  ice 
that  never  melts,  the  Saxon  blood  remains  unchanged.  Wherever 
the  race  goes,  there  law,  industry,  and  safety  for  life  and  property 
are  certain  to  arise. 


276  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

Write   a  short  account   of  any  one  of  the  following 
persons  whose  biography  you  have  read : 

1.  Benjamin  Franklin.  8.  Alexander  the  Great. 

2.  Andrew  Jackson.  9.  Mary  Sonierville. 

3.  James  Watt.  10.  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 

4.  Horace  Greeley.  11.  Florence  Nightingale. 

5.  Sir  Walter  Scott.  12.  Empress  Josephine. 
C.  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  13.  Joan  of  Arc. 

7.  David  Livingstone.  14.  Charles  Dickens. 


XII.  HISTORICAL    SKETCHES. 

In  the  two  following  sketches,  adapted  from  Dickens's 
Child} s  History  of  England,  take  notice  of  the  short, 
plain,  pure  English  words  that  he  uses.  Reproduce  from 
memory  and  criticise  by  comparing  with  the  original. 

1.  Reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

The  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  was  a  glorious  one.  It  is  made 
memorable  by  the  distinguished  men  that  flourished  in  it.  Apart 
from  the  great  voyagers,  statesmen,  and  scholars  whom  it  produced, 
the  names  of  Bacon,  Spenser,  and  Shakespeare  will  always  be  re- 
membered with  pride  and  veneration  by  the  civilized  world.  It 
was  a  great  reign  for  discovery,  for  commerce,  and  for  English  en- 
terprise and  spirit  in  general.  The  queen  was  very  popular,  and,  in 
her  progresses  or  journeys  about  her  dominions,  was  everywhere  re- 
ceived with  the  liveliest  joy.  I  think  the  truth  is  she  was  not  half 
so  good  as  she  has  been  made  out,  and  not  half  so  bad  as  she  has 
been  made  out.  She  had  many  fine  qualities ;  but  she  was  coarse, 
vain,  capricious,  and  treacherous. 

2.  The  Great  Plague  of  London. 

In  1G65  the  Great  Plague  broke  out  in  London.  The  disease  soon 
spread  so  fast  that  it  was  necessary  to  shut  up  the  houses  in  which 


PRACTICAL   COMPOSITION    IN   GRAMMAR   GRADES.        277 

sick  people  were,  and  to  cut  them  off  from  communication  with  the 
living.  Every  one  of  these  houses  was  marked  on  the  outside  of  the 
door  with  a  red  cross,  and  the  words  "  Lord,  have  mercy  on  us !" 
The  streets  were  all  deserted,  grass  grew  in  the  public  ways,  and 
there  was  a  dreadful  silence  in  the  air.  When  night  came  on,  dis- 
mal rumblings  used  to  be  heard  in  the  streets,  and  these  were  the 
wheels  of  the  death-carts,  attended  by  men  with  veiled  faces,  who 
rang  doleful  bells,  and  cried,  in  a  loud  and  solemn  voice,  "  Bring  out 
your  dead  !"  The  corpses  put  into  these  carts  were  buried  by  torch- 
light in  great  pits,  without  burial  service.  In  the  general  fear,  chil- 
dren ran  away  from  their  parents,  and  parents  from  their  children. 
In  four  months  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  people  had  died 
in  the  close  and  unwholesome  city. 

Write  a  short  sketch  of  any  one  of  the  following  events, 
selecting  the  one  that  you  like  best : 

1.  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill.       4.  Settlement  of  Plymouth. 

2.  Battle  of  New  Orleans.      5.  Settlement  of  Pennsylvania. 

3.  Paul  Jones's  Sea  Fight.     6.  Settlement  of  your  Native  State. 

XIII.  NATURAL    HISTORY    SKETCHES. 

1.  The  Mosquito.— This  bloodthirsty  insect  is  common  to  all  parts 
of  the  globe.     Its  noisy  buzz  and  sharp,  stinging  bite  are  familiar  to 
all.     It  lays  its  eggs,  several  hundred  in  number,  on  the  surface  of 
stagnant  water.     They  are  glued  together  so  that  they  float  on  the 
surface.     In  a  few  clays  the  eggs  hatch,  and  the  larvae  come  out  into 
the  water  in  the  shape  of  wrigglers.     These,  after  a  life  of  two  or 
three  weeks,  change  to  the  pupa  form,  and  float  on  the  surface.    In  a 
week  more  the  skin  of  the  pupa  bursts  open,  and  a  full-grown  mos- 
quito flies  away  into  the  air,  hungry  for  blood. 

2.  Tlie  Frog. — What  boy  has  not  thrown  a  stone  at  a  frog,  and  yet 
how  few  know  anything  about  the  wonderful  transformations  which 
this  amphibious  animal  undergoes  ! 

The  frog  begins  life  as  a  tadpole,  or  polliwig,  hatched  from  an  egg 
floating  in  the  water.  In  this  state  it  breathes,  like  fishes,  through 
its  gills.  After  several  weeks  it  begins  to  undergo  a  metamorphosis; 


278 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


that  is,  a  change  of  form.  Two  hind-legs  begin  to  grow  out,  like 
buds  on  a  tree ;  then  the  fore-legs  burst  through  the  skin,  and  the 
tail  dwindles  away.  The  gills  are  slowly  changed  into  lungs  like 
those  of  air-breathing  animals.  The  tadpole  has  become  a  land-ani' 
mal,  living  on  insects  and  worms. 


EXERCISES. 

Write  what  you   know  about  the  following  insects. 
Exchange  and  correct ;  then  read  aloud  in  the  class : 


1.  The  Butterfly. 

2.  The  Silk-worm. 

3.  The  Bumblebee. 

4.  The  Honey-bee. 

5.  The  Wasp. 


C.  The  Hornet. 

7.  The  House  Fly. 

8.  The  Grasshopper. 

9.  The  Ant. 
10.  The  Cricket. 


WORKING  MODELS   IN   SENTENCE -MAKING.  279 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WORKING  MODELS  IN  SENTENCE-MAKING. 

Note  for  Teachers. — Many  of  the  exercises  given  in 
this  chapter  do  not  differ  materially  from  those  found  in 
most  modern  text-books  on  language-lessons  and  gram- 
mar. But,  whatever  text-book  is  used,  the  teacher  needs 
to  supplement  it  with  additional  exercises  and  illustra- 
tions. Particular  attention  is  called  to  the  oral  exercises 
under  the  head  of  "  The  Complex  Sentence." 


SECTION   I. THE    SIMPLE    SENTENCE. 

1.  A  simple  sentence  consists  of  one  subject  combined  with  one 

predicate,  making  one  statement. 

2.  The  subject  of  a  sentence  consists  of  a  noun,  or  one  or  more 

words  filling  the  place  of  a  noun,  about  which  a  statement  is 
made. 

3.  The  predicate  expresses  a  statement  about  the  subject,  and  con- 

sists of  a  verb,  or  of  a  verb  united  with  one  -  or  more  words 
added  to  complete  the  statement. 

1.  The  Subject. 
The  subject  of  a  simple  sentence  may  be : 

Subject.  Predicate. 


1.  Children  (noun) 

2.  They  (pronoun) 

3.  To  play  (infinitive) 

4.  Playing  in  the  fields  (phrase) 


play, 
play. 

is  pleasant, 
is  pleasant. 


280  METHODS   OF   TEA£HING. 

EXERCISE. 

Write  three  sentences  similar  to  1 ;  three  similar  to 
2;  to  3;  to  4.  Exchange  and  correct  errors  in  spell- 
ing, punctuation,  capitals,  and  construction. 

2.  The  Predicate. 
The  predicate  of  a  simple  sentence  may  be: 

Subject.  Predicate. 


1.  Scholars 

2.  Bees 

3.  Roses 

4.  Ants 

5.  We 


study  (verb  only), 
make  honey  (verb  and  object), 
are  sweet  (verb  and  adjective), 
are  insects  (verb  and  noun), 
expect  to  go  (verb  and  infinitive 


object). 
EXERCISE. 

Write  two  sentences  similar  to  1 ;  two  similar  to  2 , 
to  3 ;  to  4;  to  5.     Exchange,  report,  and  correct. 

3.  Sentence-making. 

Write,  with  each  of  the  following  nouns  for  a  subject, 
a  sentence  having  a  predicate  consisting  of  the  verb  is 
with  a  noun  in  the  predicate  nominative : 
Model. — Arabia  is  a  peninsula. 

1.  The  earth.     4.  Italy.  7.  Russia.        10.  Arizona. 

2.  Greenland.    5.  The  United  States.   8.  Germany.    11.  Vesuvius. 

3.  Arabia.          G.  New  York.  9.  Australia.   12.  The  Sahara. 

4.  Sentence-making. 
EXERCISE  I. 

With  each  of  the  following  nouns  write  the  verb  is  or 

O 

are  and  a  noun  in  the  predicate  nominative : 
Model. — The  bee  is  an  insect. 

1.  The  bee.  4.  liorses.        7.  Iron.  10.  Potatoes. 

2.  The  snake.        5.  Robins.        8.  Water.        11.  Apples. 

3.  The  oyster.        C.  Hens.  9.  Coal.  12.  Wheat 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING.  281 

EXERCISE  II. 

With  eacli  of  the  preceding  nouns  put  a  predicate  ad- 
jective, instead  of  a  predicate  nominative. 
Model. — The  bee  is  busy. 

EXERCISE  III. 

Make  a  sentence  with  each  of  the  nouns  under  4  by 
stating  that  each  does  something. 

Model. — The  bee  makes  honey. 

5.  The  Enlarged  Subject. 
The  subject  may  be  enlarged  in  various  ways — thus : 

Subject  Enlarged.  Predicate. 


1.  The  cunning  fox  (adjective) 

2.  The  lion's  roar  (possessive  case) 

3.  The  roar  of  the  lion  (phrase) 

4.  Brown  the  tailor  (apposition) 

5.  Learning  to  spell  (infinitive) 


was  caught, 
is  terrible, 
is  terrible, 
is  honest, 
is  hard. 


EXERCISE  I. 

Write  a  sentence  with  each  of  the  possessive  enlarge- 
ments of  the  subject : 

Model. — The  birds'  nests  were  found. 

1.  The  birds'              5.  The  earth's  9.  Our  teacher's 

2.  The  parrot's           C.  The  sun's  10.  The  sheep's 

3.  The  ladies'             7.  The  moon's  11.  James's 

4.  The  girls'                8.  The  men's  12.  Charles's 

EXERCISE  II. 

Change  each  of  the  sentences  that  you  wrote  under 
the  preceding  exercise  into  a  sentence  with  an  adjective 
phrase,  similar  to  3. 

Model. — The  nest  of  the  birds  was  built  in  the  tree. 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


EXERCISE  III. 

With  each  of  the  following  nouns  write  a  sentence  hav- 
ing a  noun  in  apposition  : 

Motfel. — Dickens,  the  great  novelist,  is  dead. 

1.  Smith  4.  Burns  7.  Washington 

2.  Milton  5.  Whittier  8.  Cicero 

3.  Dickens  6.  Fulton  9.  Daniel  Webster 

EXERCISE  IV. 

With  each  of  the  preceding  nouns  write  a  sentence 
having  the  verb  is  or  was  and  a  predicate  nominative. 
Model. — Dickens  was  a  great  novelist. 

EXERCISE  V. 

With  each  of  the  following  nouns  write  a  sentence 
having  the  subject  enlarged  by  an  adjective  phrase : 
Model. — The  flowers  of  the  field  are  beautiful. 


1.  The  flowers 

2.  The  birds 

3.  The  squirrels 


4.  The  corn 

5.  The  mice 

6.  The  wood 


7.  The  snow 

8.  The  ice 

9.  The  study 


6.  The  Predicate  Enlarged. 

The  predicate  of  a  simple  sentence  may  be  enlarged  in 
various  ways — thus : 

Subject. 

1.  The  sun 

2.  The  birds 


3.  The  teacher 

4.  We  visited 

5.  The  weather 
C.  London 


Predicate  Enlarged. 

shines  Twightly  (adverb). 

sing  in  the  morning  (adverbial 
phrase). 

assigned  difficult  lessons  (adjec- 
tive). 

the  capital  of  the  United  States 
(adjective  phrase). 

is  exceedingly  cold  (adverb). 

is  the  largest  city  on  the  globe  (ad- 
jective and  adj.  phrase). 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING.  283 

EXERCISE  I. 

"Write  with  each  of  the  following  subjects  a  sentence 
having  the  predicate  nominative  enlarged  by  an  adjective 
and  an  adjective  phrase  : 

Model. — The  Amazon  is  the  largest  river  on  the  globe. 

1.  The  Amazon  4.  Paris  7.  The  Pacific 

2.  The  Mississippi  5.  New  York          8.  Russia 

3.  Mt.  Everest  6.  Boston  9.  The  Nile 

EXERCISE  II. 

Complete  the  following  sets  of  sentences  by  adding  ad- 
verbial phrases  that  answer  the  questions  where?  when? 
how?  Ask  your  parents  about  anything  you  do  not 
know. 

Model. — Cotton  grows  [where  ?]  in  the  Southern  states. 


1.  Birds  fly 

2.  Coffee  grows 

3.  Tea  grows 

4.  The  Missouri  rises 


5.  We  export  grain 

6.  Silk  is  obtained 

7.  Gold  is  found 

8.  Coal  is  found 


EXERCISE  III. 
Model—  Plymouth  was  settled  [when  ?]  in  1620. 


1.  Plymouth  was  settled 

2.  Jamestown  was  settled 

3.  America  was  discovered 


4.  My  birthday  will  come 

5.  Independence  was  declared 

6.  Our  school  began 


EXERCISE  IV. 
Model— We  travelled  [how  ?]  by  rail. 


1.  We  travelled 

2.  We  write 

3.  The  rain  fell 


4.  The  soldiers  fought 

5.  They  treated  us 

6.  America  was  discovered 


284  METHODS    OF   TEACHING. 

EXERCISE  V. — ADVERBIAL  PHRASES  OF  CAUSE. 

Complete  the  following  sentences  by  adding  phrases  de- 
noting cause,  making  use  of  the  prepositions  l>y,  through, 
far,  of, from,  etc. : 

Model. — Waves  are  caused  by  winds. 


1.  Day  and  night 

2.  The  seasons  are  caused 

3.  They  perished 


4.  He  suffered 

5.  The  money  was  given 
G.  He  became  sick 


EXERCISE  VI. — ADVERBIAL  PHRASES  or  PURPOSE. 

In  completing  the  following  sentences,  make  use  of  the 
prepositions  or  phrases  such  as  for,  in  order  to,  for  the 
purpose  of,  for  the  sake  of;  or  of  an  infinitive. 

Models. — 1.  We  eat  to  live.     2.  We  eat  for  pleasure. 


1.  We  live 

2.  We  went 

3.  They  study 


4.  The  boys  ran  away 

5.  They  went  to  Europe 
G.  He  went  to  California 


7.  The  Enlarged  Predicate  Again. 

In  a  simple  sentence  the  predicate  may  be  enlarged  by 
two  or  more  phrases  —  thus:  "We  went  (1)  into  the 
woods  (2)  with  a  gun." 

EXERCISES. 

Complete  the  following  expressions  by  adding  two  or 
more  phrases.  Exchange  and  correct : 


1.  The  sun  rises 

2.  The  brook  is  running 

3.  I  was  born 


4.  I  live 

5.  The  Amazon  flows 
G.  The  steamer  sailed 


8.  Order  of  Phrases. 
When   a  sentence    contains    two   or   more    adverbial 


WOEKING   MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING.  285 

phrases,  one  of  them  may  be  used  to  introduce  the  sen- 
tence —  thus :  In  the  winter  of  1812,  Napoleon  invaded 
Russia  with  a  great  army. 

9.  Punctuation  of  Introductory  Phrases. 

ftule.  —  Introductory    adverbial    phrases,  unless    very 
short,  are  pointed  off  by  a  comma. 

EXERCISES. 

Complete  and  punctuate  the  following : 

1.  In  the  winter  of  1620,  Plymouth 

2.  In  the  year  1607,  Jamestown 

3.  In  the  year  1492, 

4.  On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1776, 

10.  Emphatic  Order. 

If  we  wish  to  make  a  phrase  emphatic,  we  place  it  first 
in  order  in  the  sentence. 

ILLDSTUATIONS. 

1.  With  a  small  detachment,  Arnold  and  Allen  captured  Ticon- 

deroga. 

2.  Of  the  laboring  classes  we  know  little. 

3.  With  the  deepest  interest  we  watched  the  combat. 

11.  Order  of  Parts. 

1.  The  common  or  grammatical  order  of  the  main  parts  of  a  sim- 

ple declarative  sentence  is  as  follows : 

(1.)  (2.)  (3.)  (4.) 

Adjective.          Subject.          Predicate.          Adverb  or  Adverbial  Phrase. 
Huge  whales  swim  in  the  ocean. 

2.  Interrogative  sentences  are  introduced  by  the  helping  verbs  ~be, 

do,  may,  can,  must,  shall,  will,  have,  etc.,  and  the  subject  comes 


286  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

between  the  helping  verb  and  the  principal  verb ;  as,  Do  you 
hear? 

3.  The  neuter  verb  to  be,  denoting  present  or  past  time,  conies  first 

in  interrogative  sentences ;  as,  2s  he  sick  V 

4.  Exclamatory  sentences  are  introduced  by  such  words  as  how  and 

what;  as,  How  beautiful  is  the  rain !     What  a  hot  day  it  is  1 

5.  In  imperative  sentences,  the  verb  is  placed  first,  and  the  sub- 

ject is, in  general,  understood;  as,  Go  [you]  into  the  house- 
In  poetry  the  grammatical  order  is  often  inverted. 

EXERCISE  I. 

Change  into  interrogative  sentences : 

1.  We  are  going  to-morrow. 

2.  We  shall  start  in  the  morning. 

3.  He  was  doing  wrong. 

EXERCISE  TI. 

Change  into  interrogative  from  imperative : 

1.  Give  me  an  apple. 

2.  Obey  your  parents. 

3.  Let  me  go  with  you. 

EXERCISE  III. 

Change  into  declarative  sentences; 

1.  How  wonderful  is  death ! 

2.  How  cold  you  look ! 

3.  What  great  eyes  you  have  I 

4.  What  a  piece  of  work  is  man  ! 

5.  How  like  a  fawning  publican  he  looks ! 

6.  What  a  charming  prospect ! 

EXERCISE  IV. 

Change  into  the  grammatical  order  of  the  prose  sen- 
tence : 

1.  Sweet  is  the  voice  of  spring. 


WOKKING   MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING.  287 

2.  Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way. 

3.  In  their  ragged  regimentals 
Stood  the  old  Continentals. 

4.  Beneath  her  torn  hat  glowed  the  wealth 
Of  simple  beauty  and  rustic  health. 


12.  Idiomatic  "  There." 

In  many  English  sentences  the  word  there  is  used  to  in- 
troduce the  sentence,  the  subject  coming  after  the  verb. 

EXERCISES. 

Change  the  following  sentences  into  the  more  elegant 
form  introduced  by  there: 

1.  A  man  is  in  the  house. 

2.  Plenty  of  money  is  in  the  market. 

3.  No  mercy  is  in  his  heart. 

4.  No  terror  is  in  your  threats. 

5.  No  luck  is  about  the  house. 


SECTION    II. THE    COMPLEX    SENTENCE. 

1.  Oral  Exercise. —  Conjunctions. 

Teachers  will  require  each  pupil,  in  turn,  around  the 
class,  to  make  up  an  oral  sentence  containing  the  con- 
junction if;  such  a  sentence  must  be  complex.  In  the 
same  manner  require  each  pupil  to  compose  a  sentence 
with  though  ;  with  because,  that,  than,  as. 


Models. 


1.  If  you  go,  I  will  go  too. 

2.  I  was  absent,  because  I  was  sick. 

3.  She  said  that  she  would  stay. 

4.  I  am  older  than  you  are. 

5.  I  will  do  as  you  direct. 


288  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

2.  Oral  Exercise. — Relative  Pronouns. 

Require  each  pupil,  in  turn,  to  compose  an  oral  sentence 
containing  the  relative  pronoun  who  /  a  sentence  with 
which,  with  what,  with  that. 

DIRECTION. 

Make  only  declarative  sentences.  Interrogative  sen- 
tences may  be  simple  sentences.  Do  not  use  any  one  of 
the  co-ordinate  conjunctions,  and,  but,  or,  nor,  because  the 
sentence  would  then  become  compound. 

1.  The  man  who  was  sick  is  dead. 

2.  I  know  who  stole  the  apples. 


Models. 


3.  The  horse  which  I  bought  ran  away. 

4.  I  know  what  you  want. 

5.  I  go  to  the  same  school  tJiat  you  do. 


3.  The  Relative  "  That." 

1.  The  word  that  is  a  difficult  part  of  speech  to  deal  with,  because 

it  has  a  variety  of  uses ;  as, 

1.  He  said  that  I  was  wrong  [subordinate  conjunction]. 

2.  Please  give  me  that  book  [adjective]. 

3.  That  is  my  father's  house  [adjective  pronoun], 

4.  He  is  the  same  man  that  you  spoke  of  [relative  pronoun]. 

2.  That  is  correctly  used  as  a  relative  pronoun  instead  of  who  or 

which — 

1.  After  the  adjective  same. 

2.  After  an  adjective  in  the  superlative  degree. 

3.  To  prevent  the  repetition  of  who. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1.  This  is  the  same  lesson  that  we  had  yesterday. 

2.  He  is  the  tallest  man  that  I  ever  saw. 

3.  It  is  not  always  the  person  who  [that]  knows  most  who 

makes  the  best  teacher. 


WORKING    MODELS    IN    SENTENCE-MAKING.  289 


EXERCISE. 

.Require  each  pupil  to  compose  an  oral  sentence  similar 
to  1 ;  to  2 ;  to  3. 

4.  Oral  Exercise. — Relative  Adverbs. 

Let  each  pupil,  in  turn,  compose  an  oral  sentence  with 
each  of  the  following  relative  adverbs:  when;  where; 
why ;  how. 

DIRECTION. 

Do  not  make  an  interrogative  sentence,  because  the  ad- 
verbs would  then  become  interrogative  instead  of  relative, 
and  the  sentence  might  be  a  simple  sentence. 

1.  I  will  go  when  you  are  ready. 

2.  We  do  not  know  where  lie  is. 

3.  Tell  me  why  you  are  sad. 

4.  I  know  how  you  got  it. 

Leading  signs  of  the  complex  sentence : 

1.  If,  because,  than,  that,  as  [subordinate  conjunctions]. 

2.  Who,  which,  what,  that  [relative  pronouns]. 

3.  When,  where,  why,  while,  how  [relative  adverbs]. 

Require  pupils  to  write,  with  each  of  the  signs,  a  com- 
plex sentence.  Pupils  will  exchange  papers  and  correct 
under  the  direction  of  the  teacher. 

Note. — That,  as  a  conjunction,  is  used  to  introduce  ob- 
jective clauses  after  such  transitive  verbs  as  see,  hear,  feel, 
think,  wish,  hope,  fear,  ask,  say,  tell,  state,  report,  deny,  di- 
rect, etc. 

5.  Order  of  Parts. 

The  grammatical  order  of  elements  in  the  complex  sentence  is  like 

13 


290  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

that  of  the  simple  sentence,  except  that  the  clause  takes  the 
place  of  the  phrase.    Thus : 

1.  Subject;    2.  Adjective    Clause;   3.  Predicate;    4.  Adverbial 
Clause. 

Point  out  the  parts  in  the  following  sentences : 

1.  The  swallows  that  live  in  the  old  barn  migrate  when  winter 
comes. 

2.  The  boys  whom  we  met  said  they  were  going  home. 

3.  The  man  who  lost  his  horse  rewarded  the  boy  that  found  it. 

6.  The  subject  of  a  complex  sentence  may  be  a  clause.    Thus  : 

1.  [He]  Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash. 

2.  [The  time]  When  he  will  go  is  uncertain. 

3.  [The  fact]  That  you  have  wronged  me  doth  appear  in  this. 

Note.  —  Sentences  like  the  preceding  are  really  con- 
tracted complex  sentences,  as  will  be  seen  above  where 
the  subjects  of  the  principal  verbs  are  supplied  in  brackets. 

7.  The  predicate  may  consist  of  a  neuter  verb  and  a  nouii-clause 

as  the  complement,  or  predicate  nominative. 

1.  The  truth  is,  he  knew  nothing  about  it. 

2.  His  excuse  was  that  he  was  poor. 

3.  It  is  uncertain  when  he  will  go. 

8.  Emphatic  It. 

The  use  of  the  pronoun  it  to  introduce  a  sentence  by  standing 
for  a  clause  after  the  predicate  makes  a  statement  emphatic, 
and  changes  a  simple  into  a  complex  sentence. 

Simple.  Complex. 


1.  Columbus  discovered  Amer- 

ica. 

2.  Caesar  conquered  Britain. 

3.  Whitney  invented  the  cot- 

ton-gin. 

4.  Washington     planned     the 

campaign  of  Yorktown. 


5.  He  did  it. 


1.  It  was  Columbus  who  discov- 

ered America. 

2.  It  was  Ccesar  who  conquered 

Britain. 

3.  It  was  Whitney  who  invented 

the  cotton-gin. 

4.  It     was     Washington     who 

planned  the   campaign  of 
Yorktown. 

5.  It  was  he  wl^o  did  it. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING.  291 

EXERCISE. 

Change  the  following  complex  into  simple  sentences 
without  it : 

1.  It  was  in  the  age  of  Greece  that  the  seeds  of  civil  strife  were 

sown. 

2.  It  was  the  Portuguese  who  took  the  lead  in  maritime  discov- 

ery. 

3.  It  is  the  brilliant  figure  of  Spain  that  first  attracts  our  attention 

at  the  beginning  of  modern  history. 

4.  It  was  in  midwinter  that  the  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth. 

5.  It  was  Cromwell  who  said, "  Paint  me  as  I  am,  with  all  my 

warts  and  wrinkles." 

9.  Conditional  Clauses. 

Clauses  of  condition  or  concession  are  generally  placed  before 
the  principal  statement  in  order  to  add  force  to  the  expres- 
sion. 

APPLICATION. 

Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  notice  that  the  con- 
ditional clauses  are  marked  off  by  a  comma : 

1.  If  he  did  that,  he  ought  to  be  punished. 

2.  Though  you  have  injured  me,  I  will  forgive  you. 

3.  Where  you  go,  I  will  go  too. 

4.  When  you  are  ready,  we  will  start. 

5.  How  you  can  talk  so,  I  do  not  understand. 

10.  Forms  of  the  Complex  Sentence. 

I.  ADVERBIAL   CLAUSES. 

Copy  and  punctuate  the  following,  and  state  which  are 
the  clauses: 

Condition. — If  you  do  wrong,  you  will  suffer. 
Concession. — Though  he  is  guilty,  he  will  escape.  * 
Purpose. — He  ran  away,  that  he  might  go  to  sea. 


292  METHODS  "OF   TEACHING. 

Cause. — He  prospers  because  he  is  industrious. 
Effect. — You  speak  so  loud  that  you  disturb  ine. 
Manner. — You  walk  as  if  you  were  tired. 
Comparison. — The  water  is  colder  than  ice  [is]. 

The  ice  was  clear  as  glass  [is]. 
Place. — I  will  go  where  you  do. 
Time. — Go  when  you  are  called. 


II.  NOUN   CLAUSES. 

State  the  use  of  each  clause,  whether  as  subject,  object^ 
or  predicate  nominative  after  a  neuter  or  passive  verb : 

1.  That  the  earth  is  globe-shaped  has  been  proved. 

2.  My  reason  is,  I  am  tired. 

3.  Is  it  true  that  the  moon  is  made  of  green  cheese? 

4.  Where  the  Indians  came  from  is  not  known. 

5.  How  it  was  done  is  a  mystery. 

6.  Who  he  was  nobody  knows. 

7.  "  Why  do  you  eat  my  grass  ?"  said  the  Wolf. 

8.  "  What  long  arms  you  have  !"  said  she  to  the  Wolf. 

9.  He  said  that  he  would  try. 

10.  "  I'll  try,  sir,"  said  the  brave  boy. 

III.  ADJECTIVE   CLAUSES. 

Point  out  each  adjective  or  relative  clause,  and  tell 
what  it  limits : 

1.  Franklin,  who  invented  lightning-rods,  was  an  American. 

2.  The  snow,  which  fell  to  a  great  depth,  blocked  up  the  railroads, 

3.  He  is  the  oldest  man  that  I  ever  knew. 

4.  The  time  when  [=  at  which]  we  shall  start  is  uncertain. 

5.  The  reasons  why  [=for  which]  he  went  are  unknown. 

6.  The  place  where  [=in  which]  he  lives  is  very  beautiful. 

7.  The  ship  in  which  they  sailed  was  lost  at  sea. 

8.  This  is  the  boy  wlwse  lesson  was  perfect. 

9.  It  is  the  most  wonderful  story  that  I  ever  heard  of. 

10.  This  is  the  cow  that  worried  the  dog  that  killed  the  cat,  etc. 


WOKKING   MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING.  293 

Write  a  sentence  similar  to  each  of  the  preceding  sen- 
tences.    Exchange  and  correct. 

11.  Contracted  Complex  Sentences. 

The  clause  in  the  complex  sentence  is  sometimes  contracted  by 
an  ellipsis  of  the  verb,  the  subject,  or  both  verb  and  subject. 

APPLICATION. 

Orally,  in  the  class,  point  out  the  ellipsis,  and  explain 
the  punctuation  of  the  conditional  clauses : 

1.  That  house,  when  [it  is]  finished,  will  be  the  finest  in  the  city. 
&  If  you  go,  [it  is]  well;  if  [you  do]  not  [go],  I  must  go  alone. 

3.  If  [it  is]  required,  the  money  will  be  furnished. 

4.  Though  [it  was]  cold,  the  day  was  glorious. 

5.  While  [we  were]  going  to  New  York,  we  met  an  old  friend. 

6.  No  wind  that  blew  was  bitterer  than  he  [was]. 


SECTION   III. — THE   COMPOUND   SENTENCE. 

1.  Oral  Introduction. 

Teachers  will  require  each  pupil,  in  turn,  to  compose  an 
oral  sentence  which  shall  contain  the  co-ordinate  conjunc- 
tion and. 

Model. — I  shall  go  to-morrow,  and  you  must  go  with  me. 

Teachers'  Note. — Sentences  containing  and  will,  in  gen- 
eral, be  compound,  or  contracted  compound,  sentences. 
The  few  exceptions  must  be  explained  when  given  by 
pupils. 

EXERCISE. 

In  a  similar  manner  each  pupil,  in  turn,  will  compose 
a  compound  sentence  containing  but;  one  containing  or ; 
one  with  nor ;  one  with  either — or ;  one  with  neither — • 
nor. 


294 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


2.  Exercise  in  Writing. 

A  compound  sentence  consists  of  two  or  more  princi- 
pal statements  connected  by  a  co-ordinate  conjunction, 
either  expressed  or  understood. 

Leading  Signs  of  a  Compound  Sentence. 
Co-ordinate    (and;  or;  either — or;  loth — and. 
Conjunctions.  ( but;  nor  ;  neither — nor  ;  and — then. 

With  each  of  the  preceding  signs  write  two  compound 

sentences. 

3.  Contracted  Compound  Sentences. 

Study  the  changes  made  in  the  following  sentences,  and 
tell  how  they  are  made : 

Full  Compound. 

1.  I  can  read,  and  I  can  write. 

2.  You  must  go,  or  I  must  go. 

3.  Mary  sings,  and  Jane  sings 

too. 

4.  The  water  is  deep,  and  it  is 

cold. 

5.  You  must  not  go,  and  lie 

must  not  go. 


6.  They  fought  for  their  coun- 

try, and  they  died  for  their 
country. 

7.  I  care  not  when  you  go,  nor 

do  I  care  how  you  go. 


Contracted  Compound. 

1.  I  can  read  and  write. 

2.  You  or  I  must  go. 

3.  Both  Mary  and  Jane  sing. 

4.  The  wTater  is  deep  and  cold 

5.  Neither  you  nor  ho  must  go. 


6.  They  fought   and   died    for 

their  country. 

7.  I  care  not  when  or  how  you 

go. 


BLACKBOARD  SYNOPSIS  FOR  REVIEW. 

r  Simple. 
The  Sentence 3  Complex. 

(  Compound. 

f  Word :  noun  or  pronoun. 
The  Simple  Subject.  3  Phrase :  verbal  noun. 

'  Clause :  dependent  statement. 


WORKING   MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING. 


295 


f  Intransitive  verb. 
The  SimpU  Predicate.  1  Transitive  verb  and  object. 

(  Neuter  verb  and  complement. 
f  Adjective :  word,  phrase,  clause. 
<  Nouns  in  apposition,  with   their   adjective 
(      modifiers. 

j  Object:  words,  phrases,  clauses. 
(  Adverbial :  words,  phrases,  clauses. 
Simple  Sentence. — Prepositions. 
Complex  Sentence. — Subordinate  conjunctions, 

relative  pronouns,  and  relative  adverbs. 
Compound   Sentence.  —  Co-ordinate   conjunc- 
tions. 


Subject  Modifiers 


Predicate  Modifiers... 


Connectives. 


SECTION   IV.  —  EXAMINATION   QUESTIONS   IN   LANGUAGE-LES- 
SONS  AND   GRAMMAR. 

Note.  —  The  following  sets  of  questions  are  given  as 
suggestive  models  of  practical  questions  to  be  used  in  oral 
or  in  written  examinations  : 


I.   SECOND    SCHOOL    YEAR. 

1.  I.  Write  your  own  name.    II.  The  name  of  your  teacher.    III. 

The  name  of  your  father.    IV.  The  name  of  the  place  in 
which  you  live. 

2.  Write  five  sentences  by  telling  what  the  following  animals  do: 

I.  Dogs.     II.  Cats.    III.  Horses.    IV.  Birds.     V.  Flies. 

3.  Write  five  interrogative  sentences  by  asking  questions  about  — 

I.  Fishes.    II.  Lions.    III.  Boys.     IV.  Girls. 

4.  Make  sentences  out  of—  I.  My  mother.    II.  My  father.     III.  My 

teacher.    IV.  My  home. 

5.  Write  the  correct  form  of  these  incorrect  sentences  :  1.  1  seen 

him  do  it.    II.  I  done  the  sum  wrong.   III.  'Tain't  right.    IV. 
Ain't  you  going  ?    Her  and  me  are  going. 


290  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


II.  THIRD    SCHOOL    YEAR. 

1.  Write  the  name  of  (1)  a  person ;  (2)  a  place ;  (3)  the  name  of 

a  river;  (4)  the  name  of  an  ocean;  (5)  the  name  of  the  State 
in  which  you  live. 

2.  Write  five  sentences,  each  composed  of  only  two  words — a  noun 

and  a  verb. 

3.  Change  each  of  the  sentences  that  you  wrote  above  into  an  in- 

terrogative sentence. 

4.  Write  five  exclamatory  sentences,  and   remember  to  punc- 

tuate. 

5.  Correct  the  following:  I.  We  done  wrong.    II.  Who  seen  him  ? 

III.  Does  horses  neigh  ?  IV.  Was  you  there  ?  V.  Does  hens 
cackle  ? 

6.  I.  What  is  a  name-word  ?     II.  What  is  an  action-word  ?     III. 

Write  a  sentence  having  a  quality-word.  IV.  Write  a  sen- 
tence with  two  nouns  in  it.  V.  Write  a  sentence  with  two 
verbs  in  it. 


III.  FOURTH    SCHOOL    YEAR. 

1.  "  The  bees  were  humming  among  the  flowers,  and  the  birds 

were  singing  in  the  trees  and  bushes."    Point  out  the  name- 
words  in  this  sentence. 

2.  Write  two  sentences,  each  containing  two  quality-words,  and 

draw  a  line  under  these  words. 

3.  "  The  boys  read  well,  and  the  girls  sing  sweetly."     Point  out 

the  adverbs  in  this  sentence. 

4.  "  The  girls  read  and  write  well,  but  they  do  not  spell  well." 

Point  out  the  action-words,  or  verbs,  in  this  sentence. 

5.  "The  man,  woman,  and  girl  were  busy  at  their  lesson." 

Change  the  name-words  in  this  sentence  so  that  they  may 
mean  more  than  one. 

6.  "—    -  boys  -     -  fast."    Fill  the  blanks  in  this  sentence. 

What  do  you  call  the  last  word  ? 

7.  "The  boys  ran  from  the  house  through  the  garden  into  the 

field."     Point  out  the  prepositions  in  this  sentence. 


WOKKING   MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING.  297 

8.  "  The  good  boy  speaks  well,  and  the  industrious  girls  read 

finely."    Point  out  the  adjectives. 

9.  Give  a  rule  for  capitals. 
10.  Give  a  rule  for  periods. 

IV.  FIFTH    SCHOOL    YEAR. 

1.  Compare — 1.  red;  2.  good;  3.  lad;  4.  pleasant. 

2.  Write  the  sentence  "  Bees  are  busy  "  in  each  of  the  six  tenses 

of  the  indicative  mood. 

3.  Give  the  present  tense  and  past  tense — I.  of  two  irregular  verbs ; 

II.  of  two  regular  verbs. 

4.  Write  two  declarative  sentences  with  the  following  nouns :  1. 

Crickets ;   2.  The  gun.      Change   them  into  interrogative 
sentences. 

5.  Write  two  exclamatory  sentences. 

6.  Write  two  rules  for  politeness,  and  make  them  simple  sen- 

tences. 

7.  Write  four  complex  sentences,  using  in  each  one  of  the  fol- 

lowing words :  if,  who,  when,  because. 
S.  Write  two  compound  sentences. 
9.  Write  three  rules  for  capitals. 
10.  Write  two  rules  for  the  period. 

V.  SIXTH    SCHOOL    YEAR. 

1.  What  difference  is  there  in  the  use  of  the  letter  s  used  as  a 

noun-suffix,  and  a  verb-suffix  ? 

2.  Compare  fore,  worse,  far,  most,  dead. 

3.  Punctuate  and  capitalize — 

1.  The  lamb  said  to  the  wolf  who  are  you. 

2.  Be  good  said  a  wise  man  and  you  will  be  happy. 

3.  I  cannot  tell  a  lie  said  Washington. 

4.  In  the  sentence  "  That  life  is  long  which  answers  life's  great 

end,"  parse  1.  that ;  2.  is ;  3.  long ;  4.  which ;  5.  end. 

5.  Synopsis  of  the  verb  to  study  in  the  indicative  mood,  third  per- 

son, singular,  passive  voice. 


298  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


VI.  SEVENTH    SCHOOL    YEAR. 

1.  Give  the  rules  for  the  verb  having  two  or  more  singular  sul> 

jects  connected  by  and;  by  or  or  nor.    Examples  of  each. 

2.  What  change  is  made  in  the  root  form  of  the  verb  when  the 

subject  is  in  the  third  person,  singular  ?  When  the  subject  is 
tliou  ? 

3.  Define  (1)  a  simple  sentence;  (2)   a  complex;   (3)   a  com- 

pound sentence ;  (4)  a  sentence. 

4.  Write  a  simple  declarative  sentence  with  "  Fire  "  for  the  sub- 

ject ;  change  it,  first  into  an  interrogative  sentence,  next  into 
an  exclamatory  sentence,  and  then  into  an  imperative  sen- 
tence. Punctuate. 

5.  What  is  the  grammatical  order  of  parts  in  a  simple  declarative 

sentence  ? 

6.  Define  the  subject  of  a  sentence ;  the  predicate. 

7.  Write  a  complex  sentence  with  if;  one  with  who;  one  with 

when ;  one  with  than. 

8.  Rule  for  the  punctuation  of  introductory  or  inverted  adverbial 

phrases  or  clauses. 

9.  Rule  for  the  semicolon  in  a  compound  sentence. 
10.  Rule  for  quotation-marks. 

VII.  EIGHTH    SCHOOL    YEAR. 

After  the  answers  are  written,  let  pupils  exchange  pa- 
pers and  correct  under  the  direction  of  the  teacher. 

SET  I. 

1.  Write  four  rules  for  the  use  of  the  comma. 

2.  Write  two  rules  for  the  sign  of  the  possessive  case.    Exam- 

ples. 

3.  Rule  of  syntax  for  collective  nouns.     Examples. 

4.  Give  a  synopsis  of  the  verb  to  teach  in  the  indicative  and  po- 

tential moods,  third  person,  singular. 

5.  Define  each  of  the  four  kinds  of  pronouns. 

6.  Define  a  simple  sentence ;  subject ;  predicate ;  phrase ;  clause. 


WORKING  MODELS   IN   SENTENCE-MAKING.  299 

7.  Give  the  leading  signs  of  the  complex  sentence ;  the  com- 

pound sentence. 

8.  Analyze  the  sentence  "  He  laughs  that  wins." 

9.  Correct  the  sentence  "  I  thought  it  was  her." 

10.  Change  into  the  plural  form — 1.  axis ;  2.  chimney ;  3.  loss ; 
4.  leaf;  5.  rest. 

SET  II. 

1.  Analyze  the  sentence  "  You  or  I  must  go." 

2.  In  the  sentence  "  I  supposed  it  to  be  him,"  parse  it  and  him. 

3.  Write  five  rules  of  syntax. 

4.  Write  a  simple,  a  complex,  and  a  compound  sentence. 

5.  Write  four  rules  of  politeness,  and  state  what  kind  of  a  sen- 

tence each  is. 

6.  Write  the  correct  forms  of  the  following : 

1.  My  dress  fits  bad. 
2. 1  guess  its  her. 

3.  Who  did  she  marry? 

4.  Whose  there  ?    Its  me. 

7.  Change  the  sentence  "Bees  are  busy"  into  each  of  the  tenses 

of  the  indicative  mood. 

8.  Write  from  memory,  and  punctuate,  a  stanza  of  at  least  four 

lines  of  poetry. 

9.  Write  four  forms  of  the  complimentary  closing  of  a  letter. 

10.  Write  a  sentence  to  show  the  use  of  the  word  that  as  a  rela- 
tive, a  conjunction,  an  adjective,  and  an  adjective  pronoun. 


or  THE 
^  VNlVERSfTY  \ 

Of 


300  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
PUNCTUATION  OF  SENTENCES. 

Note. — These  rules  are  condensed  and  arranged  for  use 
in  grammar-school  grades. 

I.  THE    SIMPLE    SENTENCE. 

Rule  I. — Declarative  and  imperative  sentences  must 
end  with  a  period ;  interrogative  sentences  with  an  inter- 
rogation point ;  and  exclamatory  sentences  with  an  excla- 
mation point.  EXAMPLES. 

1.  A  rolling  stone  gathers  no  moss. 

2.  How  does  a  verb  differ  from  a  noun  ? 

3.  How  beautiful  the  clouds  are ! 

4.  Earn  your  own  living. 

Rule  II.  —  Adverbial  phrases,  when  introductory;  in- 
verted, or  very  emphatic,  are  cut  off  by  a  comma. 

EXAMPLES. 

1.  In  July,  1588,  the  Great  Armada  entered  the  English  Channel. 

2.  Out  in  the  country,  close  by  the  road,  under  two  tall  elms,  there 

stands  a  white  cottage. 

3.  Four  centuries  B.C.,  Greece  was  fast  outgrowing  her  ancient 

faith. 

Teachers  will  require  pupils  to  point  out  other  exam- 
ples in  some  assigned  reading-lesson. 

Eule  ///.—Participial  phrases  are,  in  general,  marked 
off  by  commas. 


PUNCTUATION  OF   SENTENCES.  301 


EXAMPLES. 

1.  The  birds,  singing  in  the  trees,  welcomed  the  rising  sun. 

2.  Disheartened  by  defeat,  the  enemy  slowly  retreated. 

3.  The  British,  twice  driven  back,  carried  the  redoubt  on  the  third 

charge. 

4.  The  invention  of  movable  metal  types,  made  in  143G,  was,  next 

to  that  of  the  alphabet,  the  greatest  of  inventions. 

For  other  examples  study  an  assigned  reading-lesson. 

Rule  IV. — More  than  two  similar  parts  of  speech,  in 
the  same  construction,  are  separated  by  commas. 

EXAMPLES. 

1.  The  four  fine   arts  are  architecture,  sculpture,  painting,  and 

music. 

2.  Verbs  are  divided  into  transitive,  intransitive,  and  neuter. 

3.  Oranges,  lemons,  figs,  olives,  and  grapes  grow  in  California. 

For  other  examples  study  some  assigned  lesson. 

Rule  V. — Minor  rules  for  the  comma. 

1.  The  words  as,  namely,  or  to  wit,  introducing  examples  or  illus- 
trations, are  followed  by  a  comma. 

2.  The  words  "  Yes,  sir,"  or  "  No,  sir,"  take  a  comma  between  them. 

3.  The  introductory  words  Resolved,  Ordered,  Voted,  must  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  comma. 

4.  Nouns  in  apposition,  when  limited  by  phrases,  or  by  any  adjec- 
tive except  the,  are  marked  off  by  two  commas. 

5.  An  explanatory  word,  following  or,  must  be  cut  off  by  commas. 

EXAMPLES. 

1.  A  noun  is  the  name  of  anything;  as,  London. 

2.  Yes,  sir,  I  will  do  my  dutjr. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  schools  be  closed  on  Washington's  birthday, 

4.  "Washington,  the  father  of  his  country,  died  in  1799. 

5.  The  atmosphere,  or  air,  surrounds  the  globe. 


302  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

Rule   VI. — Minor  rules  for  the  period. 
The  period  must  be  used — 

1.  After  abbreviated  words. 

2.  After  initial  letters. 

3.  After  a  signature. 

4.  After  the  title  of  a  book. 

5.  After  the  title  of  a  composition. 

6.  After  the  numerals  1,  2,  3,  etc.,  when  they  mark  paragraphs  or 

examples. 

Teachers  will  illustrate  by  examples  found  in  the  read- 
ers. 

Rule  VII. — Kules  for  capitals. 
A  capital  letter  should  begin— 

1.  Every  sentence,  and  every  line  of  poetry. 

2.  Proper  nouns  and  proper  adjectives. 

3.  Names  of  the  Deity. 

4.  The  names  of  days  and  months. 

5.  The  first  word  of  direct  quotations. 

6.  Sentences  following  Resolved,  Ordered,  etc. 

7.  The  pronoun  /and  the  interjection  0  must  be  written  in  capi- 

tals. 

Rule  VIIL— Other  marks. 

1.  The  curves  ( ),  or  marks  of  parenthesis,  are  sometimes  used  to 

enclose  an  explanatory  word  or  statement. 

2.  The  brackets  [  ]  are  used  to  enclose  the  correction  of  an  error, 

or  an  implied  or  understood  word. 

3.  The  dash  —  marks  a  broken  or  parenthetical  sentence. 

4.  The  caret  /\  is  used  in  manuscript  when  an  omitted  letter  or 

word  is  interlined. 

Teachers  will  call  the  attention  of  pupils  to  the  use  of 
brackets,  to  the  use  of  the  dash  in  the  readers,  and  to  the 
use  of  the  caret  in  compositions. 


PUNCTUATION   OF   SENTENCES.  303 


II.  PUNCTUATION    OF    THE    COMPLEX    SENTENCE. 

Rule  I. — Introductory  adverbial  clauses  are,  in  general, 
cut  off  from  the  principal  statement  by  a  comma. 

Teachers  will  require  pupils  to  copy  the  examples, 
point  out  the  clauses,  explain  the  punctuation,  and  give 
additional  illustrations. 

1.  Before  the  storin  began,  we  had  built  a  camp-fire. 

2.  If  this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it. 

3.  When  a  nation  wishes  to  make  war,  the  opportunity  is  usually 

found. 

Rule  II. — Explanatory  adjective  clauses,  introduced  by 
who  or  which  [="and  he,"  "and  it,"  etc.],  are  cut  off  by 
commas ;  restrictive  clauses  [  =  "  that"]  require  no  commas. 

1.  Explanatory  Clauses. 

1.  The  king,  who  [=  and  he]  was  a  merciful  ruler,  forgave  the  of- 

fence. 

2.  The  Missouri,  which  rises  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  the  chief 

tributary  of  the  Mississippi. 

3.  Plutarch,  whose  [—  and  his]  Lives  has  -been  called  the  "  Bible 

of  Heroisms,"  lived  A.D.  100. 

2.  Restrictive  Clauses. 

1.  That  is  the  man  who  aided  me. 

2.  It  is  the  tallest  tree  that  I  ever  saw. 

3.  This  is  the  book  which  you  want. 

4.  He  is  the  man  whom  we  saw  yesterday. 

5.  This  is  the  flower  that  you  spoke  of. 

Rule  III.  —  A  noun-clause  introduced  by  a  relative 
pronoun  and  used  as  the  object  of  a  transitive  verb  re- 
quires no  comma. 

1.  I  have  told  you  who  he  is. 


304  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

2.  I  know  which  he  will  buy. 

3.  I  know  who  will  go. 

Rule  IV.— A.  noun-clause  used  as  the  subject  of  a  verb 
must  be  cut  off  from  the  verb  by  a  comma. 

1.  That  the  earth  rotates  on  its  axis,  was  denied  by  the  ancients. 

2.  That  illiterate  electors  should  be  intelligent  voters,  is  not  to  be 

expected. 

3.  That  a  piece  of  amber  will  attract  light  bodies,  was  a  fact  well 

known  600  B.C. 

Rule  V. — When  the  sentence  is  introduced  by  the  pro- 
noun it,  and  the  noun -clause  is  put  after  the  verb,  no  com- 
ma is  required. 

Change  each  of  the  sentences  under  Rule  IV.  into  a 
sentence  introduced  by  it. 

Rule  VI. — Commas  must  be  used  to  mark  off  a  paren- 
thetical expression  when  it  comes  between  the  divided 
parts  of  a  sentence. 

1.  He  expected,  it  seems,  to  surprise  the  enemy. 

2.  The  man  was  murdered,  it  is  believed,  by  a  baud  of  Apaches. 

3.  "  Beautiful  creature,"  said  the  cunning  fox,  "  you  sing  like  a 

nightingale." 

III.   PUNCTUATION    OF    THE    COMPOUND    SENTENCE. 

Rule  I. — Unless  highly  contracted,  the  principal  state- 
ments, when  closely  connected,  are,  in  general,  cut  off  by 
a  comma,  and  are  always  so  cut  off  when  there  are  more 
than  two  principal  statements. 

EXAMPLES  TO  BE  COPIKD. 

1.  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  of  Italian  blood,  and  was  a  native  of 

Corsica. 

2.  "  Scrooge  signed  it,  and  Scrooge's  name  was  good  on  'Change  for 

anything  he  chose  to  put  his  hand  to." — Dickens. 


PUNCTUATION  OF  SENTENCES.  305 

3.  Tea  comes  from  China,  coffee  from  Java  and  Brazil,  and  sugar 

from  the  West  Indies. 

4.  I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered. 

Study  an  assigned  reading -lesson,  and  point  out  five 
cases  in  which  the  preceding  rule  is  applied. 

Rule  II. — Principal  statements,  when  loosely  connected, 
when  very  long,  or  when  subdivided  by  a  comma,  are 
separated  by  a  semicolon. 

EXAMPLES  TO  BE  COPIED. 

1.  The  history  of  the  Orient  is  the  history  of  dynasties ;  the  his- 

tory of  Greece  and  Rome  is  the  history  of  the  people. 

2.  The  Greeks  were  indebted  to  the  Phoenicians  for  the  alphabet; 

the  Romans  adopted  the  Greek  alphabet,  with  some  changes ; 
the  Roman  alphabet  is  the  basis  of  our  modern  alphabet. 

EXERCISE. 

From  suitable  reading -lessons,  teachers  will  point  out 
to  their  pupils  the  application  of  the  preceding  rule  to 
the  punctuation  of  the  piece. 

Rule  III. — "When  a  compound  sentence  is  highly  ellip- 
tical, or  contracted,  the  omission  of  the  principal  statement 
before  each  of  a  series  of  clauses  is  marked  by  a  semicolon. 

APPLICATION. 

"  England  has  to  undergo  the  revolt  of  the  colonies ;  [England 
has]  to  submit  to  defeat  and  separation ;  [  ?  ]  to  shake  under 
the  volcano  of  the  French  Revolution ;  [  ?  ]  to  grapple  and 
fight  for  the  life  with  her  gigantic  enemy,  Napoleon ;  [  ?  ]  to 
gasp  and  rally  after  the  tremendous  struggle." — Thackeray. 

Rule  IV. — Principal  statements  and  clauses  are  punc- 
tuated according  to  the  rules  for  the  simple  and  the  com- 
plex sentence. 


306  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


IV.   QUOTATION-MARKS. 

Rule  I. — When  we  use  the  exact  words  of  another  per- 
son, we  mark  off  the  expressions  or  sentences  with  quota- 
tion-marks at  the  beginning  and  the  end. 

Rule  1L — In  general,  a  quoted  sentence  begins  with  a 
capital  letter:  Csesar  exclaimed,  "And  you,  too,  Brutus!" 

Rule  III. — In  general,  a  quoted  sentence  or  expression 
is  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  sentence  by  a  comma; 
as,  "  I'll  try,"  said  General  Miller. 

Rule  IV. — A  very  formal  quotation,  placed  in  regular 
order  in  a  sentence,  is  marked  off  by  a  colon  ;  as,  Remem- 
ber the  old  adage :  "  A  stitch  in  time  saves  nine." 

Rule  V. — A  quoted  clause  introduced  by  the  word 
that  is  not  marked  off  by  a  comma  and  does  not  begin 
with  a  capital ;  as,  It  is  said  that  "  necessity  knows  no 
law." 

EXERCISE. 

Copy  the  following  examples,  and  explain  how  the 
preceding  rules  are  applied : 

1.  "Don't  give  up  the  ship,"  exclaimed  the  dying  Lawrence. 

2.  "  What  great  teeth  you  have !"  said  Little  Red  Riding-hood. 

"  The  better  to  eat  you  with,"  said  the  wolf. 

3.  "Vanity  of  vanities,"  saith  the  preacher,  "  all  is  vanity." 

4.  "  Language,"  said  Talleyrand,  "  is  made  to  conceal  thought." 

5.  There  is  a  Prussian  maxim  as  follows :  "  Whatever  you  would 

have  appear  in  the  life  of  a  nation,  you  must  put  into  the 
schools." 

Study  an  assigned  reading -lesson,  and  explain  the  ap- 
plication of  the  preceding  rules  to  any  quotations  you 
may  find  there. 


RULES   FOB  WRITING   GOOD   ENGLISH.  307 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
RULES  FOR  WRITING  GOOD  ENGLISH. 

Note. — The  following  practical  directions,  including  a 
combination  of  grammar  and  elementary  rhetoric,  are  in- 
tended for  the  use  of  teachers  in  the  highest  classes  in 
the  grammar-school,  as  a  supplement  to  text-books  on 
grammar.  Let  pupils  copy  the  rules  into  blank-books ; 
the  examples  may  be  given  orally,  requiring  pupils  to 
give  additional  illustrations. 

I.  WORDS. 

1.  The  leading  qualities  of  good  composition  are  clearness,  force, 

and  brevity.    These  characteristics  depend  mainly  on  the 
right  use  and  right  arrangement  of  words. 

2.  A  knowledge  of  the  exact  meaning  of  words  may  be  acquired 

in  various  ways : 

1.  By  referring  to  the  dictionary. 

2.  By  studying  word-analysis. 

3.  By  reading  good  authors. 

4.  By  conversing  with  educated  persons. 

5.  By  attention  to  the  kind  of  words  used  in  writing  or  in 

speaking. 

6.  By  the  study  of  synonyms. 

Rule  I. — Use  the  right  word  to  express  your  exact 
meaning. 

Put  in  place  of  each  italicized  word  some  word  accu- 
rately and  properly  used. 

1.  Great  quantities  [numbers]  of  people  were  there. 


308  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

2.  Give  us  this  day  our  diurnal  [?]  bread. 

3.  The  earth's  daily  [diurnal]  rotation. 

4.  Hallowed  be  thy  appellation. 

5.  He  was  banished  from  school. 

0.  Napoleon  was  sent  to  Saint  Helena. 

7.  How  dear  to  my  soul  [?]  are  the  scenes  of  my  infancy  !  [?] 

8.  I  admire  to  hear  her  sing. 

Rule  II. — Use  words  in  keeping  with  your  subject 
Avoid  dressing  up  little  thoughts  in  big  words. 
Substitute  simpler  words  in  place  of  those  italicized. 

1.  The  half-drowned  boy  was  resuscitated. 

2.  The  conflagration  of  the  cottage  was  extinguished. 

3.  The  boys  ascended  an  apple-tree. 

4.  The  money  was  devoted  to  eleemosynary  purposes. 

5.  We  took  a  short  pedestrian  excursion  in  the  garden. 
C.  I  purchased  two  apples. 

Rule  III. — Avoid  vulgarisms  and  slang,  whether  low 
or  fashionable.  Use  English  expressions  in  preference 
to  French  or  Latin. 

Substitute  in  place  of  each  italicized  word  or  phrase 
some  appropriate  word  or  phrase : 

1.  That  resolution,  Mr.  President,  can  never  be  resurrected. 

2.  The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  wage. 

3.  I  was  born  and  raised  in  Kentucky. 

4.  It  is  the  neplus  ultra  of  stoves. 

5.  The  statue  was  a  chfj "-d'ceuvre  [masterpiece]  of  art. 

6.  In  this  danger,  he  behaved  with  the  greatest  sang-froid  [cool- 

ness]. 

Rule  IV. — Use  no  redundant  words  or  phrases;  that 
is,  do  not  repeat  the  same  idea  in  different  words. 


RULES   FOB   WRITING   GOOD   ENGLISH.  309 

Point  out  the  redundant  expressions  in  the  following 
illustrations: 

1.  He  won  the  universal  love  of  everybody. 

2.  She  is  an  invalid  in  poor  health. 

3.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  desire  to  make  a  few  remarks  before  speaking. 

4.  That  book  is  mine,  for  I  own  it. 

5.  The  enemy  retreated  back  again  to  their  camp. 

6.  In  my  opinion,  I  think  you  are  wrong. 

Rule  V. — Avoid  pairs  of  synonymous  adjectives,  strong 
superlatives,  and  exaggerated  expressions. 

.A^te.— Among  the  adjectives  incorrectly  coupled  are 
"  lovely  and  beautiful,"  "  brave  and  courageous,"  "  cruel 
and  bloody ;"  among  the  superlatives,  "  very,"  "immense," 
"stupendous,"  "enormous,"  "tremendous;"  among  exag- 
gerated expressions,  "perfectly  lovely,"  "elegant," etc. 

Reduce  the  following  to  plain  English  : 

1.  The  morning  is  cold  and  chilly. 

2.  We  were  sweltering  under  a  Tiot  and  burning  sun. 

3.  That  is  a  tremendous  big  apple. 

4.  We  arrived  there  half  starved,  and  the  dinner  was  perfectly  ele- 

gant. 

5.  There  were  millions  of  crows  in  the  cornfield. 

6.  I  have  had  a  splendid  time. 

7.  My  hair  stood  on  end. 

Rule  VI. — Use  the  right  preposition  and  the  right 
conjunction : 

1.  Your  way  is  different  to  mine  [from]. 

2.  My  hat  differs  with  yours  [from]. 

o.  I  was  to  a  large  party  last  week  [at]. 

4.  Are  your  folks  to  home  [at]  ? 

5.  We  went  in  the  garden  [into]. 

6.  No  other  cause  was  known  but  carelessness  [than]. 


310  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

7.  You  will  not  trust  me,  and  he  will  [but]. 

8.  I  wish  I  could  write  like  you  do  [as], 

II.   OEDEE   OF   WOEDS. 

Rule  VII. — Emphatic  words  should  stand  near  the  be- 
ginning or  the  end  of  a  sentence. 

Note. — The  grammatical  order  is,  the  subject  with  its 
modifiers,  verb  with  its  object  or  attribute,  and  the  modi- 
fiers of  the  predicate.  Force  or  emphasis  frequently  re- 
quires this  order  to  be  changed  ;  as, 

1.  Proud  though  he  was,  he  was  at  last  humbled. 

2.  Sweet  is  the  breath  of  morn. 

3.  Some  he  banished,  others  he  put  to  death. 

Rule  VIII. — Inconsiderable  words  must  be  kept  from 
the  end  of  a  sentence. 

Note. — Among  the  unimportant  words  are  prepositions, 
the  pronoun  it,  a  short  predicate,  etc. 

EXAMPLES. 

1.  My  brother  is  the  boy  whom  the  medal  was  given  to  [to  whom 

the  medal]. 

2.  She  is  a  lady  whom  all  are  pleased  with  [?]. 

3.  It  is  a  subject  which  we  know  nothing  of  [?]. 

4.  He  took  the  city  and  was  afterwards  made  governor  of  it  [?]. 

5.  They  will  start  on  a  tour  round  the  world  soon  [?]. 

6.  We  shall  go  next  week,  if  it  does  not  rain,  probably. 

Rule  IX. — When  the  relative  that  introduces  a  restric^ 
tive  clause,  the  preposition  is  often  thrown  to  the  end  of 
the  se'ntence : 

1.  He  is  the  same  boy  that  I  spoke  of. 

2.  He  is  the  tallest  man  that  I  know  of. 

3.  The  big  boys  are  the  ones  [that]  you  should  begin  with. 


RULES   FOR   WRITING   GOOD    ENGLISH.  311 

4.  Where  is  the  girl  [that]  you  were  speaking  about  ? 

5.  It  is  th<#  very  best  use  that  you  can  put  it  to. 

Rale  X. — When  both  sexes  must  be  specifically  in- 
cluded, it  is  better,  in  general,  to  put  the  statement  in  the 
plural  form,  instead  of  the  distributive  singular,  with 
"his  "or  "her." 

1.  Every  teacher  must  make  his  or  her  report  on  the  first  of  each 

month.     [All  teachers — their  reports.] 

2.  Every  boy  and  girl  must  study  their  lesson.     [Incorrect,  be- 

cause evwij  is  singular  and  their  plural.  We  may  say  his  les- 
son, the  pronoun  standing  for  both  sexes,  or  put  the  whole 
in  the  plural  form.] 

3.  Every  man  and  every  woman  must  earn  his  or  her  living  [?]. 

Rule  XL — Use  the  possessive -case  form  of  the  pro- 
noun  before  a  verbal  noun. 

1.  I  had  heard  nothing  about  his  [not  him]  going  away. 

2.  What  is  the  use  of  our  [not  us]  trying  to  learn  it  ? 

3.  We  read  the  account  of  their  [not  them]  being  lost. 

Rule  XII. — In  order  to  secure  clearness,  words,  phrases, 
or  clauses  should  be  put  as  near  as  possible  to  the  words 
they  limit. 

Rearrange  the  phrases  or  clauses  so  as  clearly  to  ex- 
press the  meaning  intended : 

1.  These  drawings  were  done  by  a  boy  that   attended  school 

merely  for  his  own  amusement. 

2.  Wanted,  a  servant  girl  to  take  care  of  a  child  skilled  in  wash- 

ing and  ironing. 

3.  A  pin  was  accidentally  swallowed  by  a  little  child  which  had 

no  head.  ^ 

Rule  XIII. — In  general,  put  adverbs  next  to  the  words 
they  limit ;  put  the  adverb  only  immediately  before  the 
word  intended  to  be  most  affected  by  it. 


312  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

Put  the  adverbs  in  the  right  place : 

1.  He  was  [  ]  engaged  in  the  lumber  trade  formerly. 

2.  Let  us  drop  a  tear  to  his  memory  at  least. 

3.  I  only  whispered  [  ]  once  or  twice. 

4.  We  have  only  to  learn  two  lessons. 

5.  The  two  sisters  nearly  look  alike. 

6.  We  not  only  intend  [  ]  to  go,  but  also  to  remain  there. 

Rule  XIV.  —  Adverbial  phrases  or  clauses  are  fre- 
quently put  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence,  either  to 
make  the  statement  more  forcible,  or  to  secure  a  pleasing 
distribution  of  adverbial  elements. 

Rearrange  the  phrases  and  clauses : 

An  old  clock  stopped  suddenly  early  one  summer  morning  be- 
fore the  family  was  stirring  without  giving  its  owner  any 
cause  for  complaint. 

Rule  XV. — In  conditional  complex  sentences,  put  the 
?y-clause  first : 

1.  If  he  is  a  spy,  he  should  be  hanged. 

2.  Though  you  have  done  wrong,  I  will  excuse  you. 

3.  If  we  fail,  it  can  be  no  worse  for  us. 

4.  Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,!  give  my  heart  and 

my  hand  for  this  vote. 

Rule  XVI. — When  a  participle  introduces  the  sentence, 
express  in  the  context  the  noun  or  the  pronoun  which  the 
participle  is  intended  to  limit. 

1.  "Climbing  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  the  whole  valley  of 

the  Sacramento  was  seen."    This  may  be  corrected  thus: 
"  On  climbing — we  saw,"  etc. 

2.  Ascending  in  a  balloon,  the  whole  country  seemed  a  panora- 

ma [?]. 

Rule  XVII. — In  adjective  clauses,  use  who  or  which 


RULES    FOR   WKITINO   GOOD   ENGLISH.  313 

when  the  evident  meaning  is  "and  he,"  "and  it,"  etc.;  in 
other  cases,  use,  in  general,  the  restrictive  that. 

Note. — When  who  or  which  means  and  he,  and  it,  etc., 
it  introduces  an  additional  or  explanatory  statement ;  that 
introduces  a  clause  without  which  the  antecedent  is  in- 
complete, and  hence  is  restrictive. 

1.  I  heard  the  news  from  my  friend,  who  [=and  he]  heard  it  from 

the  passengers  that  [restrictive]  arrived  last  night. 

2.  He  forgot  to  keep  his  appointment,  which   [and  this]  was  a 

great  blunder. 

3.  We  wasted  our  time  on  old-style  "  parsing,"  which  [=:aud  this] 

is  English  grammar  "  rim  to  seed." 

Note. — Mark  oil  the  'who  or  which  adjective  clauses  by 
a  comma. 

Rule  XVIII. — In  clauses  introduced  by  than,  as,  a< 
well  as,  etc.,  repent  the  preposition  or  the  verb  when 
clearness  requires  it. 

1.  The  city  had  more  attractions  for  him  than  [for]  his  friend. 

2.  The  teacher  is  stricter  with  boys  than  [with]  girls. 

3.  Teachers  are  stricter  with  children  than  parents  [are]. 

4.  He  likes  Maria  better  than  [he  likes]  William. 

5.  He  likes  Maria  better  than  William  [likes  her]. 

Rule  XIX. — Keep  the  construction  uniform  unless  a 
change  is  unavoidable. 

1.  Apples  are  good  for  eating  and  to  cook. 

2.  To-day  is  warmer  and  more  pleasant  [pleasanter]  than  yesterday. 

3.  We  had  good  reasons  for  expecting  him,  and  to  suppose  [for 

supposing]  that  he  would  come  by  rail. 

III.  BREVITY. 

Rule  XX. — Use  the  smallest  number  of  words  needed 
fully  to  express  the  meaning  intended. 

14 


314  METHODS   OF    TEACHING. 

Strike  out  all  unnecessary  words  or  phrases,  or  con- 
dense into  briefer  expressions : 

1.  His  lecture  was  brief,  short,  concise,  and  condensed. 

2.  The  morning  was  grand  and  glorious,  the  air  was  balmy  and 

sweet  with  the  scent  and  perfume  of  flowers  and  plants,  and 
we  rejoiced  and  exulted  in  the  buoyance  and  light-hearted- 
ness  of  youth,  and  the  strength  and  elasticity  of  youth. 


IV.  FIGURATIVE   LANGUAGE. 

[Simplified  for  Grammar-school  Use.] 

"  Although  it  is  enough  for  the  teacher  to  have  in  view 
the  exigencies  of  grammar,  he  may  also  ring  a  few  of  the 
rhetorical  changes  that  are  of  common  occurrence — as  in- 
version, of  subject  and  predicate,  interrogation,  metaphor, 
and  metonymy." — Bairfs  Education  as  a  Science. 

1.  Both  force  and  brevity  of  expression  are  increased  by  the  prop- 

er use  of  figures  of  speech. 

2.  The  three  leading  figures  of  speech  are  personification,  simile, 

and  metaphor. 

I.   PERSONIFICATION. 

Personification  is  that  figure  by  which,  animals  are  rep- 
resented as  speaking  like  human  beings,  or  by  which  in- 
animate things  are  represented  as  having  life  and  action. 
It  may  be  direct  or  indirect. 

1.  Direct. 

1.  "  The  better  to  see  you  with,"  said  the  "Wolf. 

2.  The  cunning  Fox  said  to  the  Crow,  "  Beautiful  creature,  what  a 

sweet  voice  you  have  1" 

3.  Once  upon  a  time  Mr.  Fox  invited  Mr.  Crane  to  dinner. 

4.  "  There  is  a  reaper  whose  name  is  Death." — Longfellow. 

5.  " '  Death  shall  reap  the  braver  harvest,1  said  the  solemn-sound- 

ing dram." — Bret  Harte. 

6.  "I  love  Freedom  better  than  Slavery ;  I  will  speak  her  words ;  I 


RULES   FOR  WRITING   GOOD   ENGLISH.  315 

will  listen  to  her  music;  I  will  stand  beneath  her  flag;  I  will 
fight  in  her  ranks ;  and  when  I  do  so,  I  shall  find  myself  sur- 
rounded by  the  good,  the  brave,  the  noble  of  every  land."—' 
Baker. 

2.  Indirect. 

1.  The  trees  waved  their  long  arms  in  the  air. 

2.  The  thirsty  flowers  were  faint  ing  iii  the  hot  sun. 

3.  The  giant  mountains  lift  their  heads  into  the  skies. 

4.  The  deep-mouthed  cannon  spoke  in  angry  tones. 

5.  "  No  wind  that  blew  was  bitterer  than  he." — Dickens. 

6.  "  There  poetry  dips  its  silver  oar." — Baker. 

7.  "Near  yonder  copse  where  once  the  garden  smiled." 

EXERCISE. 
Change  into  plain  language  the  following : 

1.  The  wind  is  whispering  to  the  trees. 

2.  The  brook  came  leaping  down  the  mountain. 

3.  How  sweet  the  moonlight  sleeps  upon  this  bank  ! 

4.  From  peak  to  peak  leaps  the  wild  thunder. 

II.    SIMILE. 

A  simile  is  a  direct  comparison  of  one  thing  with  an 
other,  expressed  by  the  words  like,  as,  than,  etc. 

EXERCISE. 

Explain  the  points  of  resemblance  between  the  things 
compared  in  the  following  examples : 

1.  Human  life  is  like  a  river. 

2.  "  Old  Marley  was  as  dead  as  a  door-nail." — Dickens. 

8.  "  How  like  a  fawning  publican  he  looks  !" — Shakespeare. 

4.  "  The  liberty  of  the  press  is  like  a  great,  exulting,  and  abounding 
river."— Baker. 

III.   METAPHOR. 

A  metaphor  compares  two  things  having  some  resem- 


316  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

blaiice  by  stating  or  implying  that  one  thing  is  the  other. 
Tims  the  metaphor  is  only  an  implied  simile. 

EXERCISE. 

Point  out  the  resemblance  between  things  compared. 

1.  That  man  is  a  bear  [i.  e.,  He  is  as  cross  as  a  bear]. 

2.  An  idle  scholar  is  a  butterfly. 

3.  "A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever." — Keats. 

4.  "All  the  world  's  a  stage,  and  all  the  men  and  women  merely 

players." — Shakespeare. 

5.  "  My  eyes  cloud  up  for  rain." — Lowell. 

6.  "  And  yet  through  the  gloom  and  the  light, 

The  fate  of  a  nation  was  riding  that  night." — Longfellow. 

EXERCISE. 

Change  into  plain  language  the  following  metaphors : 

1.  The  raging  sea  swallowed  up  the  ship. 

2.  Death  is  the  brother  of  sleep. 

3.  Spring  is  a  beautiful  maiden,  but  winter  is  an  old  man  with 

whitened  locks. 

4.  Youth  is  the  morning  of  life. 

5.  Old  age  is  the  winter  of  life. 

Require  each  pupil  to  give  and  change  live  additional 
examples. 

IvULES   FOR   THE    METAPHOR. 

1.  In  forcible  statements,  use  metaphor  instead  of  literal  statement. 

1.  "The  ship  ploughs  the  sea"  is  shorter  and  more  striking 

than  "The  ship  cleaves  the  waters  of  the  sea  as  a  plough 
cleaves  the  land." 

2.  The  fortress  is  weakness  itself  =  The  fortress  is  very  weak. 

2.  Do  not  confuse  metaphors. 

The  following  is  attributed  to  Sir  Bayle  Roche:  "Mr. 
Speaker,  I  smell  a  rat,  I  see  him  brewing  in  the  air ;  but, 
mark  me,  I  shall  yet  nip  him  in  the  bud." 

Give  five  additional  examples. 


RULES    Foli    W KITING   GOOD    ENGLISH.  '.}  1  7 

IV.   MINOR    FIGURES    OF    SPEECH. 

Force,  clearness,  brevity,  variety,  or  beauty  of  expres- 
sion may  be  attained  in  various  other  ways: 

1.  By  contrasting  things : 

Talent  is  power,  tact  is  skill ;  talent  knows  wJiat  to  do, 
tact  knows  ichen  to  do;  talent  is  wealth,  tact  is  ready 
money. 

2.  By  putting  the  name  of  one  thing  for  another : 

1.  I  ani  reading  Tennyson  [i.  e.,  his  writings]. 

2.  The  pen  [i.e.,  literature]  is  mightier  than  the  sword  [i.e-r 

military  force]. 

3.  Gray  hairs  [i.e.,  old  age]  should  be  respected. 

4.  The  teakettle  [i.  e.,  the  water]  is  boiling. 

5.  He  is  fond  of  the  bottle  [i.  e.,  liquor]. 

3.  By  the  use  of  particular  instead  of  general  terms: 

General.  Particular. 

1.  I  have  neither  food  nor  2.  I  have  neither  a  crust  of  bread 

money.  nor  a  cent  to  buy  one. 

3.  He  is  an  uneducated  man.  4.  He  can  neither  read  nor  write 

5.  A  king  in  all  his  glory.  G.  Solomon  in  all  his  glory. 

7.  Behold  the   flowers    of  8.  Behold  the  lilies  of  the  field. 

the  field. 

4.  By  empJiatic  interrogation; 

1.  Who  ever  heard  of  a  happy  tyrant? 

2.  Who's  the  man  would  live  a  slave  ? 

5.  By  an  exclamation  instead  of  a  statement: 

1.  What  a  glorious  sunrise  ! 

2.  **  A  horse  !  a  horse  !  my  kingdom  for  a  horse  !" 

6.  By  addressing  the  absent  as  present,  tlie  dead  as  living,  or  inanimatt 

as  animate  : 

Instance  of  addressing  the  absent  as  present — 
Come,  old  schoolmates,  dear  companions, 

Sit  around  my  lonely  hearth,  etc. 
Of  addressing  the  dead  as  living — 

Spirit  of  Washington  !  again  lead  our  armies ;  again  guido 
our  counsels. 


318  METHODS   OF   TEACUING. 

Or  in  the  address  to  the  mummy— 

"  Specak !  for  thou  long  enough  hast  acted  dummy ; 

Thou  hast  a  tongue ;  come,  let  us  hear  its  tune,"  etc. 
Of  addressing  inanimate  as  animate — 

Speak,  marble  lips !     Proclaim  the  love  of  liberty  regulated 

by  law. 

"  Ye  crags  and  peaks !  I'm  with  you  once  again." 
"  Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  ocean,  roll !" 

7.  By  exaggeration : 

1.  The  waves  ran  mountains  high. 

2.  Napoleon  dashed  down  into  Italy  like  an  avalanche. 

3.  He  is  tall  as  a  pine  and  straight  as  an  arrow. 

4.  I  worship  my  father  and  adore  my  mother. 

5.  The  very  walls  will  cry  out  in  its  support. 

8.  By  ridiculing  under  pretence  of  praising : 

1.  Pretty  lords  of  creation !  when  they  can't  take  care  of  au 

umbrella. 

2.  What  an  honest  man  J  to  steal  only  half. 

3.  "  They've  built  us  up  a  noble  wall, 

To  keep  the  vulgar  out. 

4.  We've  nothing  in  the  world  to  do 

But  just  to  walk  about." — Holmes. 


UISTORY   OF   T11E    UNITED   STATES.  319 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
QUESTIONS   FOE   WRITTEN.  REVIEW   LESSONS. 

Note. — The  following  specimen  sets  of  questions  may 
be  given,  one  set  at  a  time,  to  the  class,  in  advance,  and 
the  written  examination  required  at  the  next  recitation. 
They  include  outlines  of  main  events,  which  teachers  can 

extend  at  pleasure. 

SET  I. 

1.  Of  the  five  great  centres  of  colonial  settlements,  state  where  and 

by  whom  each  was  settled.     1.  Jamestown.     2.  Plymouth. 
3.  New  York.    4.  Pennsylvania.     5.  Maryland. 

2.  Name  five  important  events  in  the  colonial  wars. 

3.  What  events  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution  were  connected  with 

each  of  these  cities:   1.  Boston?    2.  New  York?    3.  Phila- 
delphia ?    4.  Savannah  ?    5.  Trenton  ? 

4.  Name  five  American  victories  in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  five 

British  victories. 

5.  Give  a  short  account  of  the  most  important  battle  of  the  War 

of  1812. 

SET  II. 

1.  What  part  did  General  Scott  take  in  the  Mexican  War  ? 

2.  Name  the  first  and  last  battle  in  the  War  of  Secession. 

3.  Describe  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

4.  Name  five  Union  victories  in  the  War  of  Secession.    Five  Con 

federate  victories. 

5.  What  was  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  ? 

SET  III. 
1.  What  causes  led  to  the  French  and  Indian  War? 


320  METHODS    OF    TEACHING. 

2.  The  Revolutionary  War  ? 

3.  The  Mexican  War  ? 

4.  The  War  of  Secession  ? 

SET  IV. 

1.  When  and  how  was  slavery  introduced  into  the  United  States  \ 

2.  When  and  how  was  it  abolished  ? 

3.  What  was  the  Missouri  Compromise  ? 

4.  What  is  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  ? 

5.  What  is  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  ? 

SET  V. 

1.  Name  five  American  generals  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

2.  In  the  War  of  Secession. 

3.  Name  three  leading  statesmen  of  the  Revolutionary  period. 

4.  Of  the  War  of  Secession. 

5.  Name  five  American  authors,  and  five  American  inventors,  stat- 

ing what  they  invented. 

SET  VI. 

1.  What  resulted  from  these  wars:   1.  French  and  Indian?    2. 

Revolution?     3.  Mexican?    4.  Secession? 

2.  Who  wrote  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  who  adopted  it, 

and  what  was  it  ? 

3.  What  do  you  know  about  paper  money  in  the  Revolutionary 

War? 

4.  Who  was  Robert  Morris? 

5.  What  connection  did  Alexander  Hamilton  have  with  the  finan- 

cial measures  of  Congress  ? 

SET  VII. 

1.  Name  five  discoverers  of  the  New  World,  and  the  parts  of 

America  discovered  by  each. 

2.  Name  five  important  persons  in  connection  with  the  first  settle- 

ments of  the  United  States. 

3.  Tell  what  causes  led  to  the  settlement  of— 1.  Massachusetts.; 

2.  Rhode  Island;  3.  Pennsylvania;  4.  Maryland;  5.  Georgia. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.  321 

4.  Name  five  of  the  most  important  and  populous  states  in  177C. 

5.  Name  one  important  act  performed  by — 1.  Sir  Francis  Drake; 

2.  De  Soto;  3.  Balboa;  4.  Champlain  ;  5.  James  Oglcthorpe. 

6.  What  was  the  Stamp  Act  ? 

7.  When  and  where  did  the  first  Continental  Congress  meet  ? 

8.  Tell  \vhat  important  service  was  performed   by  —  1.  Patrick 

Henry;  2.  John  Hancock;  3.  Benjamin  Franklin;  4.  Buie 
diet  Arnold ;  5.  Thomas  Jefferson. 

SET  VIII. 

1.  When  and  where  was  the  first  action  of  the  Revolutionary  War  ? 

When  and  where  the  last  ? 

2.  What  was  the  condition  of  the  Americans  at  the  close  of  the 

year  1779? 

3.  In  what  year  did  Congress  adopt  the  "Articles  of  Confedera- 

tion ?"     In  what  year  the  Constitution  ? 

4.  Name  five  battles  in  the  Revolutionary  War  in  which  the  British 

were  successful. 

5.  What  was  the  origin  of  "  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line  ?" 

SET  IX. 

1.  Who  invented  the  cotton-gin  ?    What  did  it  do  ? 

2.  When,  where,  and  by  whom  was  the  first  steamboat  run  upon 

American  waters  ?     Give  an  account  of  the  voyage  ? 

3.  Prior  to  what  time  were  there  no  railroads  in  the  United  States  ? 

Of  what  advantage  have  they  been  to  the  country  ?    Why  is 
the  Pacific  Railroad  a  remarkable  work  ? 

4.  When  and  where  was  the  first  telegraph  line  built  ?    Who  in« 

vented  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph  ? 

5.  Who  laid  the  Atlantic  cable  ?    What  does  it  do  ? 

6.  Who  invented  or  improved  the  sewing-machine?    To  what 

class  is  it  a  blessing  ? 

7.  In  what  respects  is  the  printing-press  of  to-day  better  than  the 

press  which  Franklin  used  in  1725  ?     How  is  the  world  ben- 
efited by  this  superiority  ? 

8.  What  is  the  object  of  American  common-schools?     Ought  they 

to  be  well  supported  ?    Why  ? 


322  METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PRACTICAL  LESSONS  IN  SCHOOL  ETHICS. 
I.  LESSONS   FOR   YOUNGER   PUPILS. — DUTIES   OF   CHILDREN, 

1.  Respect  for  Parents. 
Maxims. 

1.  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother. 

2.  Obedience  is  the  first  duty  of  a  child. 

Hints. 

1.  Always  be  polite  to  your  parents. 

2.  Always  obey  them  pleasantly  and  cheerfully. 

3.  Perform  all  your  duties  faithfully. 

4.  Your  parents  provide  you  with  a  home,  with  food,  and  -with 

clothing,  and  it  is  your  duty  to  work  for  them  whenever  they 
ask  you  to  do  so. 

5.  Read  or  tell  to  your  class  some  suitable  story  to  illustrate  the 

lesson. 

6.  Put  this  question  to  the  class :  "  Why  is  it  your  duty  to  obey 

your  parents  ?"    Draw  out  as  many  answers  as  possible,  and 
converse  about  them. 

2.  Gratitude  and  Love  to  Parents. 
Maxims. 

1.  An  ungrateful  child  is  despised  by  everybody. 

2.  Gratitude  must  be  expressed  in  acts  as  well  as  in  words. 

3.  Duties  towards  Teachers. 
Hints. 

Question  your  pupils  and  find  out  what  their  ideas  of 
school  duties  are.  At  the  close  of  your  conversation,  sum 
up  your  statements  into  directions  like  the  following: 


PRACTICAL   LESSONS   IN   SCHOOL   ETi:  323 

1.  Be  orderly  and  quiet. 

2.  Be  punctual  and  industrious. 

3.  Try  to  form  good  habits. 

4.  Be  respectful  and  polite. 

5.  Learn  your  lessons  as  well  as  you  can. 

6.  You  are  not  studying  at  school  merely  because  your  teacher 

tells  you  to  study,  but  because  you  go  to  school  for  your  own 
good. 

7.  When  you  are  idle  and  neglect  your  lessons,  you  cheat  yourself, 

not  your  teacher. 

4.  Duties  to  Brothers,  Sisters,  and  Schoolmates. 

I.  FORBEARANCE. 

Maxims. 

1.  He  is  wisest  that  gives  way. 

2.  In  a  quarrel,  be  the  first  to  conciliate. 

3.  Offer  an  offender  the  hand  of  friendship  when  he  meets  you  In 

a  friendly  spirit. 

II.  COURTESY. 

Precepts. 

1.  When  you  do  a  favor,  do  it  cheerfully  and  promptly. 

2.  Share  the  work  as  well  as  the  play  of  your  companions. 

3.  Refuse  to  take  any  part  in  what  you  think  to  be  wrong. 


H.  LESSONS   FOE   OLDER   PUPILS. 

1.  Choice  of  Occupation. 
Precepts. 

1.  First  consult  your  capacity ;  your  inclination  will  come  of  it- 

self. 

2.  Every  occupation  has  its  peculiar  burdens  and  disadvantages. 

3.  Any  lawful  occupation  may  lead  to  success. 

4.  Whatever  you  undertake  to  do,  strive  to  do  it  to  the  best  of 

your  ability. 

5.  Aspire  to  the  highest  rank  in  whatever  occupation  you  engage. 


METHODS   OF   TEACHING. 

Note. — Teachers  will  find  many  excellent  extracts  to  be 
read  to  a  class  in  Smiles's  Self-help  and  Smiles's  Biogra- 
phies. 

2.  Industry. 
Maxims. 

1.  Idleness  is  the  mother  of  vice. 

2.  An  idle  brain  is  the  devil's  workshop. 

3.  A  young  man  idle  is  an  old  man  needy. 

4.  Industry  makes  all  things  easy. 

Note. — Teachers  will  find  interesting  extracts  in  Frank- 

O 

tin's  Autobiography,  or  Parton's  Life  of  Franklin. 

3.  Economy. 

\.  Spend  less  than  you  earn. 

2.  Be  economical,  but  not  mean,  or  stingy,  or  avaricious. 

3.  Be  prudent  and  saving  in  youth  as  a  safeguard  against  need 

in  old  age. 

4.  Personal  independence  depends  largely  on  the  possession  of  a 

competence. 

4.  Order. 
Precepts. 

1.  Put  everything  into  its  proper  place. 

2.  Have  regular  hours  for  work,  study,  and  play. 

3.  Make  it  a  point  of  honor  to  keep  your  appointments  punctually. 

5.  Kindness. 
Precepts. 

1.  Kindness  is  the  sunshine  of  social  life. 

2.  When  you  have  wronged  another,  do  not  hesitate  to  apologize. 

3.  In  conversation,  avoid  blunt  contradictions. 

4.  A  cheerful,  pleasant  countenance  is  a  good  letter  of  introduc- 

tion. 


PRACTICAL    LESSON  8   IN    SCHOOL    ETHICS. 


325 


6.  Ethical  Virtues. 
[As  classified  by  l)r.  Fricke.] 

I.  VIRTUES   OF   CHARACTER. 

Cardinal  Virtues. — Justice,  Love  [Kindness]. 

1.  Justice : 
Out  of  which  grow  : 

Self-denial. 


(  Self-knowledge.     Temperance. 
Sumcctwe.  {  ~  ,» 

(  Self-restraint.          Moderation. 

1  Honesty. 
Fidelity. 
Truthfulness. 


Obedience. 

Punctuality. 

Conscientiousness. 


Love  [Kindness] : 
Whence  proceed : 
Subjective.     Self-respect. 

j  Liberality.  Kindness. 

Objective.    <  Charitableness.  Forbearance. 

(  Friendliness.  Forgiveness. 


Determination, 
Impartiality. 
Unselfishness. 
Gratitude. 


Patience. 
Frankness. 


II.   VIRTUES    OF    TEMPERAMENT. 

f  Seriousness.  Desire  to  learn.  Intrepidity. 

Courage.  Firmness. 

(  Cheerfulness.  Gentleness.  Modesty. 

Discretion.  Contentment, 


--.••;.         oeriousm 

Subjective.  <   .    ..  . 

\  Activity. 

(  CheerfulL 
Objective.    <  _.  , 

(  Calmness. 


III.  ^ISTHETICAL   VIRTUES. 

Order.  Decency.  Courtesy. 

Cleanliness.  Dignity.  Manners. 


THE    END. 


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With  Portrait,  Maps,  and  Illustrations.  8vo,  Cloth,  $5  00; 
Sheep,  $6  00. 

BLAIKIE'S  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  Memoir  of 
his  Personal  Life,  from  his  Unpublished  Journals  and  Corre- 
spondence. By  W.  G.  BLAIKIE,  D.D.  With  Portrait  and 

Map.     8vo,  Cloth,  $2  25. 

CURTIS'S  LIFE  OF  BUCHANAN.  Life  of  James  Buchanan, 
Fifteenth  President  of  the  United  States.  By  GEORGE  TICK- 
NOR  CURTIS.  With  Two  Steel  Plate  Portraits.  2  vols.,  Svo, 
Cloth,  Uncut  Edges  and  Gilt  Tops,  $G  00. 

GRIFFIS'S  JAPAN.  The  Mikado's  Empire :  Book  I.  History 
of  Japan,  from  660  B.C.  to  1872  A.D.  Book  II.  Personal  Ex- 
periences, Observations,  and  Studies  in  Japan,  from  1870  to 
1874.  With  Two  Supplementary  Chapters:  Japan  in  1883, 
and  Japan  in  ISSfi.  By  W.  E.  GHIFFIS.  Copiously  Illustrated. 
8vo,Cloth,  $4  00;  Half  Calf,  $6  25. 


8  Valuable  Works  for  Public  and  Private  Libraries. 

THE  POETS  AND  POETRY  OF  SCOTLAND:  From  the 
Earliest  to  the  Present  Time.  Comprising  Characteristic  Se- 
lections from  the  Works  of  the  more  Noteworthy  Scottish 
Poets,  with  Biographical  and  Critical  Notices.  By  JAMES 
GRANT  WILSON.  With  Portraits  on  Steel.  2  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth, 
$10  00;  Gilt  Edges,  $11  00. 

SCHLIEMANN'S  ILIOS.  Ilios,  the  City  and  Country  of  the 
Trojans.  A  Narrative  of  the  Most  Recent  Discoveries  and  Re- 
searches made  on  the  Plain  of  Troy.  By  Dr.  HENRY  SCHLIE- 
MANN.  Maps,  Plans,  and  Illustrations.  Imperial  8vo,  Illu- 
minated Cloth,  $12  00;  Half  Morocco,  $15  00. 

SCHLIEMANN'S  TROJA.  Troja.  Results  of  the  Latest  Re- 
searches and  Discoveries  on  the  Site  of  Homer's  Troy,  and  in 
the  Heroic  Tumuli  and  other  Sites,  made  in  the  Year  1882,  and 
a  Narrative  of  a  Journey  in  the  Troad  in  1881.  By  Dr.  HEN- 
RY SCHLIEMANN.  Preface  by  Professor  A.  II.  Sayce.  With 
Wood-cuts,  Maps,  and  Plans.  8vo,  Cloth,  $7  50;  Half  Moroc- 
co, $10  00. 

> 

SCHWEINFURTH'S  HEART  OF  AFRICA.  Three  Years' 
Travels  and  Adventures  in  the  Unexplored  Regions  of  the  Cen- 
tre of  Africa  — from  18G8  to  1871.  By  GEORG  SCHWEIN- 
FURTH.  Translated  by  ELLEN  E.  FREWER.  Illustrated.  2  vols., 
8vo,  Cloth,  $8  00. 

SMILES'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  HUGUENOTS.  The  Hugue- 
nots: their  Settlements,  Churches,  and  Industries  in  England 
and  Ireland.  By  SAMUEL  SMILES.  With  an  Appendix  rela- 
ting to  the  Huguenots  in  America.  Crown,  8vo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

SMILES'S  HUGUENOTS  AFTER  THE  REVOCATION.  The 
Huguenots  in  France  after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes ;  with  a  Visit  to  the  Country  of  the  Vaudois.  By  SAM- 
UEL SMILES.  Crown  8vo,  Cloth,  $2  00. 

SMILES'S  LIFE  OF  THE  STEPHENSONS.  The  Life  of 
George  Stephenson,  and  of  his  Son,  Robert  Stephenson  ;  com- 
prising, also,  a  History  of  the  Invention  and  Introduction  of 
the  Railway  Locomotive.  By  SAMUEL  SMILES.  Illustrated 
8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 


raluablc  Works  for  Public  and  Private  Libraries.  (J 

THOMSON'S  SOUTHERN  PALESTINE  AND  JERUSALEM. 

Southern  Palestine  and  Jerusalem.  Biblical  Illustrations 
drawn  from  the  Manners  and  Customs,  the  Scenes  and  Scen- 
ery, of  the  Holy  Land.  By  W.  M.  THOMSON,  D.D.  140  II- 
lustrations  and  Maps.  Square  8vo,  Cloth,  $6  00 ;  Sheep, 
$700;  Half  Morocco,  $8  50;  Full  Morocco,  Gilt  Edges, 
$10  00. 

THOMSON'S   CENTRAL   PALESTINE   AND   PIICENICIA. 

Central  Palestine  and  Phoenicia.  Biblical  Illustrations  drawn 
from  the  Manners  and  Customs,  the  Scenes  and  Scenery,  of 
the  Holy  Land.  By  W.  M.  THOMSON,  D.D.  130  Illustrations 
and  Maps.  Square  8vo,  Cloth,  $6  00 ;  Sheep,  $7  00 ;  Half 
Morocco,  $8  50;  Full  Morocco,  $10  00. 

THOMSON'S  LEBANON,  DAMASCUS,  AND  BEYOND  JOR- 
DAN. Lebanon,  Damascus,  and  beyond  Jordan.  Biblical  Illus- 
trations drawn  from  the  Manners  and  Customs,  the  Scenes  and 
Scenery,  of  the  Holy  Land.  By  W.  M.  THOMSON,  D.D.  H7 
Illustrations  and  Maps.  Square  Svo,  Cloth,  $6  00;  Sheep, 
$7  00;  Half  Morocco,  $8  50;  Full  Morocco,  $10  00. 

Popular  Edition  of  the  above  three  volumes,  Svo,  Ornamental 
Cloth,  $9  00  per  set. 

THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  "  CHALLENGER."  The  Atlantic  : 
an  Account  of  the  General  Results  of  the  Voyage  during  1873, 
and  the  Early  Part  of  1876.  By  Sir  WYVILLE  THOMSON. 
K.C.B.,  F.R.S.  Illustrated.  2  vols.,  Svo,  Cloth,  $12  00. 

THE  STUDENT'S  SERIES,  Maps  and  Ill's.  12mo,  Cloth: 
FRANCE. — GIBBON. — GREECE. — ROME  (by  LIDDELL). — OLD 
TESTAMENT  HISTORY. — NEW  TESTAMENT  HISTORY. — STRICK- 
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EAST. — HALLAM'S  MIDDLE  AGES. — HALLAM'S  CONSTITUTIONAL 
HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. —  LYELL'S  ELEMENTS  OF  GEOLOGY. — 
MERIVALE'S  GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  ROME. —  Cox's  GENERAL 
HISTORY  OF  GREECE.— CLASSICAL  DICTIONARY. — SKEAT'S  ETY- 
MOLOGICAL DICTIONARY.  —  RAWLINSON'S  ANCIENT  HISTORY. 
$1  25  per  volume. 

LEWIS'S  HISTORY  OF  GERMANY. — ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY, 
Two  Vols. — HUME'S  ENGLAND. — MODERN  EUROPE.  $1  50  pet 
volume. 

WESTCOTT  AND  HORT'S  GREEK  TESTAMENT,  $1  00 


10          Valuable  Works  for  Public  and  Private  Libraries. 

NORTON'S  STUDIES  OF  CHURCH -BUILDING.     Historical 

Studies  of  Church -Building   in    the   Middle   Ages.     Venice, 
Siena,  Florence.  By  CHARLES  ELIOT  NORTON.  8vo,  Cloth,  $3  00. 

CYCLOPAEDIA  OF  BRITISH  AND  AMERICAN  POETRY. 

Edited    by   EPES   SARGENT.       Royal   8vo,  Illuminated    Cloth, 
Colored  Edges,  $4  50 ;  Half  Leather,  $5  00. 

EATON'S  CIVIL  SERVICE.  Civil  Service  in  Great  Britain. 
A  History  of  Abuses  nnd  Reforms,  and  their  bearing  upon 
American  Politics.  By  DORMAN  B.  EATOX.  8vo,  Cloth, 
$2  50. 

CARLYLE'S  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT.  History  of  Fried- 
rich  II.,  called  Frederick  the  Great.  By  THOMAS  CARLTLE. 
Portraits.  Maps,  Plans,  &c.  6  vols..  12mo,  Cloth,  $7  50  ;  Sheep, 
$9  90;  Half  Calf,  $18  00. 

CARLYLE'S  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  The  French  Revolu- 
tion :  a  History.  By  THOMAS  CARLTLE.  2  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth, 
$2  50  ;  Sheep,  $2  90  ;  Half  Calf,  $4  25. 

CARLYLE'S  OLIVER  CROMWELL.  Oliver  Cromwell's  Let- 
ters and  Speeches,  including  the  Supplement  to  the  First  Edi- 
tion. With  Elucidations.  By  THOMAS  CARLTLE.  2  vols., 
12mo,  Cloth,  $2  50;  Sheep,  $3  90;  Half  Calf,  $4  25. 

PAST  AND  PRESENT,  CHARTISM,  AND  SARTOR  RESAR- 
TUS.  By  THOMAS  CARLTLE.  i2mo,  Cloth,  fl  25. 

EARLY  KINGS  OF  NORWAY,  AND  THE  PORTRAITS  OF 
JOHNKNOX.  By  THOMAS  CARLTLE.  12mo,  Cloth,  $1  25. 

REMINISCENCES  BY  THOMAS  CARLYLE.  Edited  by  J.  A. 
FROUDE.  12mo,  Cloth,  with  Copious  Index,  and  with  Thirteen 
Portraits,  50  cents. 

FROUDE'S  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  CARLYLE.  PART  I.  A 
History  of  the  First  Forty  Years  of  Carlyle's  Life  (1795-1835). 
By  JAMES  ANTHONY  FROUDE,  M.A.  With  Portraits  and  Illus- 
trations. 2  volumes  in  one,  12mo,  Cloth,  $1  00. 

PART  II.  A  History  of  Carlyle's  Life  in  London  (1834-1881), 
By  JAMES  ANTHONY  FROUDE.  Illustrated.  2  volumes  in  one. 
1  "Zinc,  Cloth,  $1  00. 


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